“…And Then there clearly was the Down Low”: Introduction to Black and Latino Male Bisexualities

“…And Then there clearly was the Down Low”: Introduction to Black and Latino Male Bisexualities

Although a current expansion of advertising has drawn focus on “the brand new Down minimal occurrence” (presumably “secretive” homosexuality among hitched Black males), reasonably little studies have explored bisexual behavior and identification among cultural minority guys in the us or elsewhere. Even though the research of bisexuality in Ebony and Latino guys is significant in its right that is own prices of HIV/AIDS among these guys result in the present dearth of medical information a lot more urgent and concerning. In this section that is special we now have compiled a varied selection of empirical and theoretical views on Ebony and Latino male bisexualities. a broad number of information regarding the person, social, and intimate lives of those guys, and possible relations to risk behavior, are presented. This informative article presents this body that is new of and will be offering ideas for future research instructions for culturally appropriate interventions for Black and Latino bisexual guys.

Introduction

On April 16, 2004, an episode that is new of Oprah Winfrey Show, “A Secret World of Intercourse: residing regarding the ‘Down Low’”, ended up being broadcast on tv displays across the world. A trailer for the episode warned audiences, “It’s a shocker. It is called in the ‘Down Low’. Men with wives and girlfriends sex that is secretly having other males. One guy blows the lid off this intimate underground” (oprah.com, 2008). Presenting the episode, Oprah claimed “J. L. King ended up being a joyfully hitched dad of two but had been maintaining a secret…living that is dark the ‘down low’ apparently residing a ‘straight’ lifestyle having a spouse and family members, but secretly resting with guys” (oprah.com, 2008). A self-declared “HIV prevention activist, educator, and author” (as well as a “new man”) bore witness to his own 25-year experience of existing on the “Down Low” as a “secretly” bi-sexual Black man: “The desire overrode everything I knew,” King recalled during the course of one hour, special guest King. “It created this entire key life and made me compensate stories and attempt to cover-up my songs. It had been a life that destroyed my household” (oprah.com, 2008).

King had been scarcely the first ever to “blow the lid off” the existence of this bisexuality that is apparently widespread Ebony guys. On August 3, 2003, the brand new York days Magazine preceded Oprah by having a report that is extensive the thing that was called “an organized, underground subculture mostly consists of Black males whom otherwise live straight lives” (Denizet-Lewis, 2003). Also almost ten years earlier in the day, writer E. Lynn Harris had written bestselling novels, including “Invisible Life,” “Just when I Am,” and “Abide with Me,” explaining the sensation of Ebony male bisexuality (Frieden, 2002).

Few might have expected, nonetheless, the effect a single bout of oprah may have on intimate tradition in america and past.

Much like Black males, because the advent of HIV/AIDS, the study of Latino male bisexuality in the usa happens to be highly for this emergence regarding the epidemic. Some scientists attemptedto transpose brand brand new labels onto Latino bisexual guys in the usa with small theoretical foundation. For instance, Fox (1996) proposed a separate and distinct typology of “Latin bisexuality,” thought as “male people who make the insertive part in anal or oral intercourse with another guy, and consider themselves heterosexual” (p. 36). This typology reflects a representation that is stereotypical of intimate habits and will not account fully for some of the complexities of Latino male bisexuality and possible relationships between ethnicity and sex. Nevertheless, research on homosexually- and bisexually-active Latino males has suggested that familiar Anglo-American kinds of intimate orientation are culturally particular and that their imposition on Latinos is problematic

It really is of these reasons that people have actually tried to critically re-examine Ebony and Latino male bisexuality in this unique portion of Archives of Sexual Behavior. We now have desired to subscribe to a brand new knowledge base, not only centering on the “new Down minimal sensation,” but on bisexuality among cultural minority males generally speaking. While bisexuality it self happens to be provided scant attention within the clinical literature, Ebony and Latino male bisexuality deserves attention that is special. The Down that is recent Low has elicited numerous questions. Knowledge on cultural minority male bisexuality is mainly anecdotal sex chat site. A scientific understanding of ethnic minority male bisexuality has lagged while myths are spreading, perhaps with greater speed and voracity than HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In this section that is special we now have offered unique attention from general general public health insurance and theoretical views.

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