Down-low is an African American slang term that typically refers to a subculture of black men who usually identify as heterosexual, but who have sex with men; some avoid sharing this information even if they have female sexual partner(s), they are married, or they are single. The term is also used to refer to a related sexual identity. Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior". Origins The term originated in the black community, and was originally used to describe "any kind of slick, secretive behavior, including infidelity in heterosexual relationships". According to a study published in the Journal of Bisexuality, "[t]he Down Low is a lifestyle predominately practiced by young, urban b lack men who have sex with other men and women, yet do not identify as gay or bisexual". In this context, "being on the Down Low" is more than just men having sex with men in secret, or a variant of closeted homosexuality or bisexuality—it is a sexual identity that is, at least partly, defined by its "cult of masculinity" and its rejection of what is perceived as white culture (including white LGBT culture) and terms. A 2003 cover story in The New York Times Magazine on the Down Low phenomenon explains that the black community sees "homosexuality as a white man's perversion." It then goes on to describe the Down Low culture as follows: The term quickly became conflated with an eroticism of black and Latino homosexual activity. Throughout the gay porn industry and internet networks, "down-low" quickly became a marketing term used to publicize pornographic movies, models, sex-clubs and social gatherings that included black and Latino men. King argued that the use of the term "down low" was a way for many African American men to admit to having sex with other men without necessarily identifying as "gay" in the traditional sense. On the heels of that article, San Francisco Chronicle contributing writer Frank Leon Roberts published "Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation: The 'down-low' – Coming out your own way in black  clubs""Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation: The 'down-low' – Coming out your own way in black clubs" . July 23, 2003, www.aegis.com in the newspaper's July 23, 2003 issue. Using a content analysis of more than 170 articles written between 2001 and 2006, sociologist Richard N. Pitt, Jr. concluded that the media pathologized black bisexual men's behavior while either ignoring or sympathizing with white bisexual men's similar actions. He argued that the "down-low" black bisexual is often described negatively as a duplicitous heterosexual man whose behaviors threaten the black community. Alternatively, the "Brokeback" white bisexual (when seen as bisexual at all) is often described in pitying language as a victimized homosexual man who is forced into the closet by the heterosexist society around him. The finding that more than one in three nondisclosers reported having recent female sex partners suggests that nondisclosing MSM might have an important role in HIV/STD transmission to women. This might be particularly true for black nondisclosing MSM, of whom approximately one in five was infected with HBV and one in seven was infected with HIV." In Beyond the Down Low, Keith Boykin denied this connection, attributing the media claim to sexism, racism, homophobia and classism. Boykin stated that despite the numerous media accounts linking the down-low to the occurrence of AIDS in the African-American community, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has never cited men on the down-low as a factor. Boykin claimed that no extensive research has ever been published about men on the down-low, in part because of the difficulty of identifying the targeted population. In his book, Beyond The Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America, he wrote that men on the 'down-low' are not the cause of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in black America. Boykin argued that the down-low debate demonizes black men, stigmatizes black women, and encourages an unhealthy "battle of the sexes" that distracts the community's attention from the issues of HIV prevention, personal responsibility and condom use. The authors of a study of the down-low on Craigslist.org also argue that the discourse about the down-low is about pathologizing black sexualities. These authors found that white men also claim to be on the down-low as much as black men; however, society and the media still only attributes the down-low to black people and their sexual behaviors. The authors maintain that by only focusing on black people's sexual behaviors, larger structural issues such as poverty and drug use are ignored in the discussion about rising HIV rates in certain black communities. A cross-study analysis that reviewed 24 articles (and published in the Journal of the National Medical Association) found that " black MSM are more likely than MSM of other racial or ethnic groups to be bisexually active or identified; and, compared with white MSM, are less likely to disclose their bisexual or homosexual activities to others." The authors concluded that: "The high prevalence of HIV in the black community and the greater likelihood of bisexuality among black men place heterosexual black women at risk for HIV infection. However, the contribution of high-risk heterosexual black men to the rising HIV caseload among black women has been largely ignored. Future research must evaluate the relative contributions of bisexual men and exclusively heterosexual black men to HIV cases among black women." "... covert and unprotected sex among bisexually active black men was commonplace for reasons that included prostitution, habituation to same-sex relations during incarceration, and the desire to maintain a facade of heterosexuality in homophobic communities. It was concluded that bisexual activity is highly correlated with secrecy and unprotected sex. The risks of bisexuality among black men are exacerbated by incarceration, homophobia, drug use, and the prison and public health focus on surveillance rather than prevention." In Nobody Is Supposed to Know: Black Sexuality on the Down Low (2014), scholar C. Riley Snorton contends that black sexuality operates within the glass closet, a space "marked by hypervisibility and confinement, spectacle, and speculation." Down-low men have been subjected to demonization and criminalization by the media, health officials, as well as the general public, especially during the early to mid-2000s. This type of hypervisibility reinforces the confining space of the glass closet, and continues to position black men as subjects of regulation and surveillance. Therefore black masculinity is perceived as "dangerous, prone to trickery, promiscuous, and contaminated while also framing white masculinity and sexuality as less susceptible to such problems." The glass closet represents the immobility of black people and sexuality. Down-low men are racialized, sexualized, gendered, and classed. The (meta)physics of the glass closet are like the physical properties of glass, sometimes liquid and sometimes solid, located in the slippages of categorization. If we understand the closet as a racialized metaphor, then we must fully consider what it means when black bodies enter the illuminating space of the closet. It resembles the phenomenon of peering into a lit window at night—the contents inside captured by the glass frame. Despite the hypervisibility of the glass closet, there is still potential for the performative tactic which Snorton calls "ignorance". This ignorance "relies on the subversion of knowledge and a deft manipulation of spectacle." Thus, the glass closet can also function as a space of willful invisibility for down-low black men.
Down-low is an African American slang term that typically refers to a subculture of Black men who usually identify as heterosexual, but who have sex with men; some avoid sharing this information even if they have female sexual partner(s), they are married, or they are single. The term is also used to refer to a related sexual identity. Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior". Origins The term originated in the Black community, and was originally used to describe "any kind of slick, secretive behavior, including infidelity in heterosexual relationships". According to a study published in the Journal of Bisexuality, "[t]he Down Low is a lifestyle predominately practiced by young, urban Black men who have sex with other men and women, yet do not identify as gay or bisexual". In this context, "being on the Down Low" is more than just men having sex with men in secret, or a variant of closeted homosexuality or bisexuality—it is a sexual identity that is, at least partly, defined by its "cult of masculinity" and its rejection of what is perceived as white culture (including white LGBT culture) and terms. A 2003 cover story in The New York Times Magazine on the Down Low phenomenon explains that the Black community sees "homosexuality as a white man's perversion." It then goes on to describe the Down Low culture as follows: The term quickly became conflated with an eroticism of Black and Latino homosexual activity. Throughout the gay porn industry and internet networks, "down-low" quickly became a marketing term used to publicize pornographic movies, models, sex-clubs and social gatherings that included Black and Latino men. King argued that the use of the term "down low" was a way for many African American men to admit to having sex with other men without necessarily identifying as "gay" in the traditional sense. On the heels of that article, San Francisco Chronicle contributing writer Frank Leon Roberts published "Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation: The 'down-low' – Coming out your own way in B lack clubs""Stereotypes and Sexual Orientation: The 'down-low' – Coming out your own way in black clubs" . July 23, 2003, www.aegis.com in the newspaper's July 23, 2003 issue. Using a content analysis of more than 170 articles written between 2001 and 2006, sociologist Richard N. Pitt, Jr. concluded that the media pathologized Black bisexual men's behavior while either ignoring or sympathizing with white bisexual men's similar actions. He argued that the "down-low" Black bisexual is often described negatively as a duplicitous heterosexual man whose behaviors threaten the Black community. Alternatively, the "Brokeback" white bisexual (when seen as bisexual at all) is often described in pitying language as a victimized homosexual man who is forced into the closet by the heterosexist society around him. The finding that more than one in three nondisclosers reported having recent female sex partners suggests that nondisclosing MSM might have an important role in HIV/STD transmission to women. This might be particularly true for Black nondisclosing MSM, of whom approximately one in five was infected with HBV and one in seven was infected with HIV." In Beyond the Down Low, Keith Boykin denied this connection, attributing the media claim to sexism, racism, homophobia and classism. Boykin stated that despite the numerous media accounts linking the down-low to the occurrence of AIDS in the African-American community, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has never cited men on the down-low as a factor. Boykin claimed that no extensive research has ever been published about men on the down-low, in part because of the difficulty of identifying the targeted population. In his book, Beyond The Down Low: Sex, Lies and Denial in Black America, he wrote that men on the 'down-low' are not the cause of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black America. Boykin argued that the down-low debate demonizes Black men, stigmatizes Black women, and encourages an unhealthy "battle of the sexes" that distracts the community's attention from the issues of HIV prevention, personal responsibility and condom use. The authors of a study of the down-low on Craigslist.org also argue that the discourse about the down-low is about pathologizing Black sexualities. These authors found that white men also claim to be on the down-low as much as Black men; however, society and the media still only attributes the down-low to Black people and their sexual behaviors. The authors maintain that by only focusing on Black people's sexual behaviors, larger structural issues such as poverty and drug use are ignored in the discussion about rising HIV rates in certain Black communities. A cross-study analysis that reviewed 24 articles (and published in the Journal of the National Medical Association) found that " Black MSM are more likely than MSM of other racial or ethnic groups to be bisexually active or identified; and, compared with white MSM, are less likely to disclose their bisexual or homosexual activities to others." The authors concluded that: "The high prevalence of HIV in the Black community and the greater likelihood of bisexuality among Black men place heterosexual Black women at risk for HIV infection. However, the contribution of high-risk heterosexual Black men to the rising HIV caseload among Black women has been largely ignored. Future research must evaluate the relative contributions of bisexual men and exclusively heterosexual Black men to HIV cases among Black women." "... covert and unprotected sex among bisexually active Black men was commonplace for reasons that included prostitution, habituation to same-sex relations during incarceration, and the desire to maintain a facade of heterosexuality in homophobic communities. It was concluded that bisexual activity is highly correlated with secrecy and unprotected sex. The risks of bisexuality among Black men are exacerbated by incarceration, homophobia, drug use, and the prison and public health focus on surveillance rather than prevention." In Nobody Is Supposed to Know: Black Sexuality on the Down Low (2014), scholar C. Riley Snorton contends that Black sexuality operates within the glass closet, a space "marked by hypervisibility and confinement, spectacle, and speculation." Down-low men have been subjected to demonization and criminalization by the media, health officials, as well as the general public, especially during the early to mid-2000s. This type of hypervisibility reinforces the confining space of the glass closet, and continues to position Black men as subjects of regulation and surveillance. Therefore Black masculinity is perceived as "dangerous, prone to trickery, promiscuous, and contaminated while also framing white masculinity and sexuality as less susceptible to such problems." The glass closet represents the immobility of Black people and sexuality. Down-low men are racialized, sexualized, gendered, and classed. The (meta)physics of the glass closet are like the physical properties of glass, sometimes liquid and sometimes solid, located in the slippages of categorization. If we understand the closet as a racialized metaphor, then we must fully consider what it means when Black bodies enter the illuminating space of the closet. It resembles the phenomenon of peering into a lit window at night—the contents inside captured by the glass frame. Despite the hypervisibility of the glass closet, there is still potential for the performative tactic which Snorton calls "ignorance". This ignorance "relies on the subversion of knowledge and a deft manipulation of spectacle." Thus, the glass closet can also function as a space of willful invisibility for down-low Black men.
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