Also, the current construction associated with “Down Low” happens to be still another depiction of bisexuality as a “new” concept, comparable to Newsweek’s “discovery” of “Bisexual Chic: Anyone Goes” (1974) over three decades ago. Even though the presence of male and female bisexuality happens to be well-documented across countries since antiquity (Cantarella, 2002), the “Down Low” ended up being portrayed as a brand new trend. But, the erasure that is cyclical stigmatization, re-erasure, and restigmatization of bisexuality, specially among guys, is barely “new” (Angelides, 2001; Yoshino, 2000). In the place of news depictions from current years, but, this time around bisexuality had not been exposed as a trend that is glamorous pop music movie movie movie stars and supermodels. Instead, it absolutely was a shameful “secret” which put innocent individuals (feamales in specific) at an increased risk for condition and death. Certainly, the Down minimal ended up being instantly exalted by some towards the status regarding the “driving force” of this HIV epidemic into the Black community. Oprah, in her own tv program, clearly connected the Down Low event to HIV transmission, as did the report within the nyc instances Magazine. Any direct empirical evidence regarding the role of the Down Low phenomenon in the HIV epidemic among African Americans is lacking (Millett, Malebranche, Mason, & Spikes, 2005) although down Low men seem useful scapegoats for the disproportionally high prevalence rates of HIV among Black women.
Additionally, research on Black male bisexuality and HIV transmission to its associations have not yet adequately described the complexity of the males’s intimate habits and associated risks, on their own and their lovers.
Final, present discourse surrounding the Down Low abruptly characterized “secretive bisexuality” to be all but exclusive to Ebony guys. Interestingly, traditional studies of bisexuality in the usa concentrated heavily on White gents and ladies. When recognized at all, very early pictures for the possible part of the “bisexual bridge” from bisexual male to (presumably heterosexual and monogamous) feminine partners additionally promulgated the label associated with “white picket fence,” i.e., the White, married man as being a vector of condition transmission (Miller, 2002). The present general public discourse on the Down minimal has taken along with it an abrupt about-face when it comes to racial/ethnic focus. It has resulted in renewed demonization not merely of bisexuality but of Ebony male sexuality (cf. Lewis & Kertzner, 2003). Malebranche (2007) records, “Demonizing Ebony male sexuality has become a staple of American tradition since slavery, where our part would be to work and breed, while the Mandingo label of a hyper-sexual Black guy with an appetite that is insatiable White women was created…we distort the facts about HIV into the Ebony community to divert our attention through the genuine вЂdown low’ problems of oppression, racism, insecurity, intimate punishment, drug abuse, joblessness, hopelessness, and despair.”
Interestingly, Latino males are also taken off present discourse from the “new Down minimal trend,” although they usually what is live sex have already been discovered to possess fairly high prices of male bisexuality along side fairly low prices of disclosure to partners that are female.
Analysis concentrating particularly on Latino bisexual guys, broadly comprehended right right here as guys of Latin American descent who are now living in the usa, is notably more developed than research on Ebony bisexual males. Even before the HIV epidemic, human anatomy of research on bisexual behavior among Latino guys emerged from social researchers working within Latin America and also the Caribbean. Ethnographic research indicates that Latin American men that are bisexual unique dilemmas when you look at the construction, phrase, and connection with their sexualities (Aggleton, 1996). As an example, Carrier (1985) and Taylor (1978) discovered that the system of categorizing same-sex experiences among bisexually-active Mexican guys depends upon or perhaps a people assume the “male” or “female” role during intercourse (penetrating or being penetrated). De Moya and Garcia (1996) discovered relationships that are similar masculinity and bisexuality into the Dominican Republic. Within the Brazilian context, Parker (1991, 1996, 1999) recommended that the “object” (man or woman) of your libido may be less significant within the subjective construction of the sex and therefore a comparatively high erotic value is positioned on a lot of freedom in intimate encounters.