The Low Down on the Down Low: An Investigation into the Discordance between Sexual Identity and Sexual Behavior

摘要

The study focused on the discordance between sexual identity and behavior in a sample of African American men "on the down low" in Philadelphia. Intensive interviews with 33 men were conducted to further understanding of why some men who have sex with men identify as straight. Participants typically defined gay in ways that did not include them such as gay is: feminine; or playing the receptive role in sex; or dealing exclusively with the same sex. They did not choose bisexual identity because this is not sufficiently distinguished from gay. Butler's (1990) theory of sexuality as performance, Turner's (1967) conception of liminality, and rich quotations provided by the participants are weaved together in an analysis of the erasure of bisexuality as a plausible identity. The narratives the participants provided "trouble" essentialist notions of discrete and stable sexual identity categories.