Displacing the Dominant “Down Low” Discourse: Deviance, Same-Sex Desire, and Craigslist.org

Abstract

This article troubles the “down low” (DL) discourse by focusing on an Internet forum—Craigslist.org—where people on the “down low” post. The advertisements, gathered from seven cities in two U.S. regions, reinforce some of the “down low” discussion in the previous literature, as they show a pattern of seeking “masculine” men. These ads also depart from general perceptions such as the DL being a term used predominantly by black men. The authors discuss methodological implications in research with posts, and suggest advancing analyses on the relationship between race, sexuality and power, and gender and sexuality in DL research.

Notes

¹Yet, the DL “population” has been studied empirically; see Agyemang (2007), González (2007), and Valera (2007).

²It should be noted that much of the academic research and literature about the “down low” was framed around the more mainstream (non-academic) literature published by Denizet-Lewis (2003), King (2004), Boykin (2005), and to a lesser extent, Dean (2008).

³There are also challenges in how the various sources make these sexual identities operational—and whether they are talking about one particular racial group or any DL men. In her analysis, Phillips (2005) claims that the DL is made up of African-American men who have sex with other African-American men. Agyemang (2007) defines the DL as “ … bisexually active men who have sex with both men and women but do not tell their female partners” (p. 14). Valera (2007) claims that eight out of the nine men she interviewed were gay; they just framed it as the “down low” to negotiate their social milieu. Ward (2007) maintains that these (white) men do not see the DL as a way to just have sex with other men, but rather the DL “ … reflects a particular desire to participate in Black hyper-masculinity, relationships with women, and heterosexual culture” (p. 34). Looking at Latino DL men, González (2007) views the DL as young, masculine men who have guilt-free sex lives in engaging in this covert sexual world that is not gay, but rather structured around the Hip-Hop culture; the “down low” is seen as constituting masculinities of heterosexual men of color who engage in sexual acts with one another while still living straight lives.

⁴This point about losing family and friends for ethno-racial minorities that come out should be countered to the internal migration processes that catapulted the formation of gay communities, 30 or 40 years before, in U.S. urban cities. As noted by historians Berubé (1990), D'Emilio (1993), and as mentioned by Rubin (1984), internal migration by (mostly) white gay men and lesbians resulted in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Chicago to serve as havens for these sexual minorities. In those instances and between the 1960s and 1980s, the formation of a gay community emerged against a separation of family ties. Subsequent cultural shifts in coming out narratives have challenged the idea of migration as a necessary act to assume one's own identity; current times push for a coming out narrative outside of the framework of leaving family behind.

⁵From the July 1, 2008, report on population estimates for cities, the U.S. Census Bureau projected the following population predictions: 591,833 in DC; 537,958 in Atlanta; 1,447,395 in Philadelphia; 8,363,710 in NYC; 2,853,114 in Chicago; 912,062 in Detroit; and 382,605 in Minneapolis.

^*The “Other” race-ethnic category responded to: Arab.

^**The “Other” race-ethnic category responded to: Indian (2), Arab (1), and Asian (1). With only n = 1 for Asian in the Midwest, Asian was lumped with Other.

^***The “Other” race-ethnic/nationality category within these postings ranged from Italian, Greek, and Lebanese men. Also, Arab or Middle Eastern men were mentioned. Accordingly, Indian, Koreans, Berber, and Bengali men were referred to a couple times as well. Lastly, “Blatinos” (Black & Latino) were indicated too.

^****The “Other” category within these postings also included Arab (4), Indian (1), and Asian (1).

⁶Whites are not the numerical racial majority in all of the Midwestern cities (as some people may assume). According to the July 1, 2008, report on population estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, whites make up 70.2% of the population in Minneapolis, but blacks make up 83% in Detroit. Likewise, Chicago is 39.9% white and 34.6% black.

⁷The results of this section, as in other tables, do not round up to 100%, because some posters expressed interest in having a sexual encounter with more than one kind of man based on race (e.g., were seeking a black or Latino man).

⁸All misspellings, wrong grammar, and bad punctuation are left in its original presentation.

⁹This is not to conflate masculinity with heterosexuality, but only to point out that these ads and the larger discourse around the DL seem to reify this conflation. As Hennen (2008) shows in his study of Bear and Leathermen cultures, there are homosexual cultures built around masculinity and hyper-masculinity as well.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brandon Andrew Robinson

BRANDON ANDREW ROBINSON is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include gender and sexualities, race and ethnicity, qualitative methodologies, and queer spatialities with a specific interest in cyberqueer spaces.

Salvador Vidal-Ortiz

SALVADOR VIDAL-ORTIZ is an Associate Professor of sociology at American University, in Washington, DC. His research interests include racialized sexualities, racialization and U.S. Latina/o communities, Latin American studies, gender and sexuality, queer theory, social policy and HIV/AIDS, (im)migration, and religious–cultural practices like Santería.