The down low and the sexuality of race

Abstract

There has been much interest in the phenomenon called "the Down Low" in which "otherwise heterosexual" African American men have sex with other black men. This essay explores the biopolitics at play in the media's curiosity about the Down Low. The Down Low serves as a critical, transgressive heterotopia that reveals the codetermi-nation of racism, sexism, and heterosexism in black male sexuality. © 2011 Brad Elliott Stone.