Beyond the Down Low

Beyond the Down Low

Author: Keith Boykin

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Published: 2006-01-03

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 9780786717040

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Keith Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide, syndicated columnist, and AIDS activist, breaks new ground by going beyond the hype with the first responsible, eye-opening look at the down low sensation. Unlike all previous accounts on the topic, Beyond the Down Low refreshingly presents the DL not merely as a problem of gay and bisexual men living in the shadows and endangering women, but more broadly as a telling example of the African-American community's overall failure to engage in critical but uncomfortable conversations about sexuality. Boykin details how the virtual silence from black leaders on sex matters has helped to create an environment where gay and bisexual men feel compelled to lead double lives. Meanwhile, the dialogue that has occurred both inside and out of African-American circles encourages an unhealthy battle of the sexes, ignores the complexities of the closet, demonizes homosexuality and bisexuality, disempowers women from personal responsibility to protect themselves from STDs, and misdirects public resources and attention at vilifying down low men.


Book Synopsis Beyond the Down Low by : Keith Boykin

Download or read book Beyond the Down Low written by Keith Boykin and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2006-01-03 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keith Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide, syndicated columnist, and AIDS activist, breaks new ground by going beyond the hype with the first responsible, eye-opening look at the down low sensation. Unlike all previous accounts on the topic, Beyond the Down Low refreshingly presents the DL not merely as a problem of gay and bisexual men living in the shadows and endangering women, but more broadly as a telling example of the African-American community's overall failure to engage in critical but uncomfortable conversations about sexuality. Boykin details how the virtual silence from black leaders on sex matters has helped to create an environment where gay and bisexual men feel compelled to lead double lives. Meanwhile, the dialogue that has occurred both inside and out of African-American circles encourages an unhealthy battle of the sexes, ignores the complexities of the closet, demonizes homosexuality and bisexuality, disempowers women from personal responsibility to protect themselves from STDs, and misdirects public resources and attention at vilifying down low men.


On the Down Low

On the Down Low

Author: J.L. King

Publisher: Harmony

Published: 2005-04-05

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 076791399X

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A bold exposé of the controversial secret that has potentially dire consequences in many African American communities. Delivering the first frank and thorough investigation of life “on the down low” (the DL), J. L. King exposes a closeted culture of sex between black men who lead “straight” lives. King explores his own past as a DL man, and the path that led him to let go of the lies and bring forth a message that can promote emotional healing and open discussions about relationships, sex, sexuality, and health in the black community. Providing a long-overdue wake-up call, J. L. King bravely puts the spotlight on a topic that has until now remained dangerously taboo. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, statistics, and the author’s firsthand knowledge of DL behavior, On the Down Low reveals the warning signs African American women need to know. King also discusses the potential health consequences of having unprotected sex, as African American women represent an alarming 64 percent of new HIV infections. Volatile yet vital, On the Down Low is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year. “A survey by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta found that nearly a quarter of black HIV-positive men who had sex with men consider themselves heterosexual.” —Essence


Book Synopsis On the Down Low by : J.L. King

Download or read book On the Down Low written by J.L. King and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2005-04-05 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold exposé of the controversial secret that has potentially dire consequences in many African American communities. Delivering the first frank and thorough investigation of life “on the down low” (the DL), J. L. King exposes a closeted culture of sex between black men who lead “straight” lives. King explores his own past as a DL man, and the path that led him to let go of the lies and bring forth a message that can promote emotional healing and open discussions about relationships, sex, sexuality, and health in the black community. Providing a long-overdue wake-up call, J. L. King bravely puts the spotlight on a topic that has until now remained dangerously taboo. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, statistics, and the author’s firsthand knowledge of DL behavior, On the Down Low reveals the warning signs African American women need to know. King also discusses the potential health consequences of having unprotected sex, as African American women represent an alarming 64 percent of new HIV infections. Volatile yet vital, On the Down Low is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year. “A survey by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta found that nearly a quarter of black HIV-positive men who had sex with men consider themselves heterosexual.” —Essence


Nobody Is Supposed to Know

Nobody Is Supposed to Know

Author: C. Riley Snorton

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2014-03-01

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1452940916

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Since the early 2000s, the phenomenon of the “down low”—black men who have sex with men as well as women and do not identify as gay, queer, or bisexual—has exploded in news media and popular culture, from the Oprah Winfrey Show to R & B singer R. Kelly’s hip hopera Trapped in the Closet. Most down-low stories are morality tales in which black men are either predators who risk infecting their unsuspecting female partners with HIV or victims of a pathological black culture that repudiates openly gay identities. In both cases, down-low narratives depict black men as sexually dangerous, duplicitous, promiscuous, and contaminated. In Nobody Is Supposed to Know, C. Riley Snorton traces the emergence and circulation of the down low in contemporary media and popular culture to show how these portrayals reinforce troubling perceptions of black sexuality. Reworking Eve Sedgwick’s notion of the “glass closet,” Snorton advances a new theory of such representations in which black sexuality is marked by hypervisibility and confinement, spectacle and speculation. Through close readings of news, music, movies, television, and gossip blogs, Nobody Is Supposed to Know explores the contemporary genealogy, meaning, and functions of the down low. Snorton examines how the down low links blackness and queerness in the popular imagination and how the down low is just one example of how media and popular culture surveil and police black sexuality. Looking at figures such as Ma Rainey, Bishop Eddie L. Long, J. L. King, and Will Smith, he ultimately contends that down-low narratives reveal the limits of current understandings of black sexuality.


Book Synopsis Nobody Is Supposed to Know by : C. Riley Snorton

Download or read book Nobody Is Supposed to Know written by C. Riley Snorton and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2014-03-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the early 2000s, the phenomenon of the “down low”—black men who have sex with men as well as women and do not identify as gay, queer, or bisexual—has exploded in news media and popular culture, from the Oprah Winfrey Show to R & B singer R. Kelly’s hip hopera Trapped in the Closet. Most down-low stories are morality tales in which black men are either predators who risk infecting their unsuspecting female partners with HIV or victims of a pathological black culture that repudiates openly gay identities. In both cases, down-low narratives depict black men as sexually dangerous, duplicitous, promiscuous, and contaminated. In Nobody Is Supposed to Know, C. Riley Snorton traces the emergence and circulation of the down low in contemporary media and popular culture to show how these portrayals reinforce troubling perceptions of black sexuality. Reworking Eve Sedgwick’s notion of the “glass closet,” Snorton advances a new theory of such representations in which black sexuality is marked by hypervisibility and confinement, spectacle and speculation. Through close readings of news, music, movies, television, and gossip blogs, Nobody Is Supposed to Know explores the contemporary genealogy, meaning, and functions of the down low. Snorton examines how the down low links blackness and queerness in the popular imagination and how the down low is just one example of how media and popular culture surveil and police black sexuality. Looking at figures such as Ma Rainey, Bishop Eddie L. Long, J. L. King, and Will Smith, he ultimately contends that down-low narratives reveal the limits of current understandings of black sexuality.


Beyond the Down Low

Beyond the Down Low

Author: Keith Boykin

Publisher: Da Capo Press, Incorporated

Published: 2005-01-02

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13:

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Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide, syndicated columnist, and AIDS activist, breaks new ground by going beyond the media hype with the first responsible, eye-opening look at the down low sensation, referring to the secretive phenomenon of closeted black men who have sex with other men.


Book Synopsis Beyond the Down Low by : Keith Boykin

Download or read book Beyond the Down Low written by Keith Boykin and published by Da Capo Press, Incorporated. This book was released on 2005-01-02 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide, syndicated columnist, and AIDS activist, breaks new ground by going beyond the media hype with the first responsible, eye-opening look at the down low sensation, referring to the secretive phenomenon of closeted black men who have sex with other men.


Hiding in Hip Hop

Hiding in Hip Hop

Author: Terrance Dean

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2008-05-13

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1416553398

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In the tradition of "New York Times" bestsellers "Confessions of a Video Vixen" and "It's No Secret," an entertainment industry insider presents an expos into the down low culture of Hollywood and hip hop, where straight male celebrities find themselves intimate with other men.


Book Synopsis Hiding in Hip Hop by : Terrance Dean

Download or read book Hiding in Hip Hop written by Terrance Dean and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-05-13 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of "New York Times" bestsellers "Confessions of a Video Vixen" and "It's No Secret," an entertainment industry insider presents an expos into the down low culture of Hollywood and hip hop, where straight male celebrities find themselves intimate with other men.


Sexual Discretion

Sexual Discretion

Author: Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr.

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2014-03-07

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 022609667X

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African American men who have sex with men while maintaining a heterosexual lifestyle in public are attracting increasing interest from both the general media and scholars. Commonly referred to as “down-low” or “DL” men, many continue to have relationships with girlfriends and wives who remain unaware of their same-sex desires, and in much of the media, DL men have been portrayed as carriers of HIV who spread the virus to black women. Sexual Discretion explores the DL phenomenon, offering refreshingly innovative analysis of the significance of media, space, and ideals of black masculinity in understanding down low communities. In Sexual Discretion, Jeffrey Q. McCune Jr. provides the first in-depth examination of how the social expectations of black masculinity intersect and complicate expressions of same-sex affection and desire. Within these underground DL communities, men aren’t as highly policed—and thus are able to maintain their public roles as “properly masculine.” McCune draws from sources that range from R&B singer R. Kelly’s epic hip-hopera series Trapped in the Closet to Oprah's high-profile exposé on DL subculture; and from E. Lynn Harris’s contemporary sexual passing novels to McCune’s own interviews and ethnography in nightclubs and online chat rooms. Sexual Discretion details the causes, pressures, and negotiations driving men who rarely disclose their intimate secrets.


Book Synopsis Sexual Discretion by : Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr.

Download or read book Sexual Discretion written by Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr. and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-03-07 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African American men who have sex with men while maintaining a heterosexual lifestyle in public are attracting increasing interest from both the general media and scholars. Commonly referred to as “down-low” or “DL” men, many continue to have relationships with girlfriends and wives who remain unaware of their same-sex desires, and in much of the media, DL men have been portrayed as carriers of HIV who spread the virus to black women. Sexual Discretion explores the DL phenomenon, offering refreshingly innovative analysis of the significance of media, space, and ideals of black masculinity in understanding down low communities. In Sexual Discretion, Jeffrey Q. McCune Jr. provides the first in-depth examination of how the social expectations of black masculinity intersect and complicate expressions of same-sex affection and desire. Within these underground DL communities, men aren’t as highly policed—and thus are able to maintain their public roles as “properly masculine.” McCune draws from sources that range from R&B singer R. Kelly’s epic hip-hopera series Trapped in the Closet to Oprah's high-profile exposé on DL subculture; and from E. Lynn Harris’s contemporary sexual passing novels to McCune’s own interviews and ethnography in nightclubs and online chat rooms. Sexual Discretion details the causes, pressures, and negotiations driving men who rarely disclose their intimate secrets.


Stop Being Niggardly

Stop Being Niggardly

Author: Karen Hunter

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2010-04-27

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1439123705

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nig·gard·ly (adj.) [nig´erd-le] 1. stingy, miserly; not generous 2. begrudging about spending or granting 3. provided in a meanly limited supply If you don’t know the definition of the word, you might assume it to be a derogatory insult, a racial slur. You might be personally offended and deeply outraged. You might write an angry editorial or organize a march. You might even find yourself making national headlines In other words, you’d better know what the word means before you pour your energy into overreacting to it. That’s the jumping-off point for this powerful directive from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author Karen Hunter. It’s time for the black community to stop marching, quit complaining, roll up their collective sleeves, channel their anger constructively, and start fixing their own problems, she boldly asserts. And while her straight-talking, often politically incorrect narrative is electrifyingly fresh and utterly relevant to today’s hot-button issues surrounding race, Hunter harks back to the wisdom of a respected elder—Nannie Helen Burroughs, who was ahead of her time penning Twelve Things the Negro Must Do for Himself more than a century ago. Burroughs’s guidelines for successful living—from making education, employment, and home ownership one’s priorities to dressing appropriately to practicing faith in everyday life—teach empowerment through self-responsibility, disallowing excuses for one’s standing in life but rather galvanizing blacks to look to themselves for strength, motivation, support, and encouragement. From our urban communities to small-town America, the issues Hunter is bold enough to tackle in Stop Being Niggardly affect us all. Refreshingly candid and challenging, certain to get people everywhere talking, this is the book that takes on race in a new—yet also historically revered and simply stated—way that can change lives, both personally and collectively.


Book Synopsis Stop Being Niggardly by : Karen Hunter

Download or read book Stop Being Niggardly written by Karen Hunter and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-04-27 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: nig·gard·ly (adj.) [nig´erd-le] 1. stingy, miserly; not generous 2. begrudging about spending or granting 3. provided in a meanly limited supply If you don’t know the definition of the word, you might assume it to be a derogatory insult, a racial slur. You might be personally offended and deeply outraged. You might write an angry editorial or organize a march. You might even find yourself making national headlines In other words, you’d better know what the word means before you pour your energy into overreacting to it. That’s the jumping-off point for this powerful directive from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author Karen Hunter. It’s time for the black community to stop marching, quit complaining, roll up their collective sleeves, channel their anger constructively, and start fixing their own problems, she boldly asserts. And while her straight-talking, often politically incorrect narrative is electrifyingly fresh and utterly relevant to today’s hot-button issues surrounding race, Hunter harks back to the wisdom of a respected elder—Nannie Helen Burroughs, who was ahead of her time penning Twelve Things the Negro Must Do for Himself more than a century ago. Burroughs’s guidelines for successful living—from making education, employment, and home ownership one’s priorities to dressing appropriately to practicing faith in everyday life—teach empowerment through self-responsibility, disallowing excuses for one’s standing in life but rather galvanizing blacks to look to themselves for strength, motivation, support, and encouragement. From our urban communities to small-town America, the issues Hunter is bold enough to tackle in Stop Being Niggardly affect us all. Refreshingly candid and challenging, certain to get people everywhere talking, this is the book that takes on race in a new—yet also historically revered and simply stated—way that can change lives, both personally and collectively.


Beyond Monogamy

Beyond Monogamy

Author: Mimi Schippers

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2016-08-16

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1479801593

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Through an investigation of sexual interactions and relationship forms that include more than two people, from polyamory, to threesomes, to the complexity of the "down-low" Schippers explores the queer, feminist, and anti-racist potential of multipartnered sex and relationships


Book Synopsis Beyond Monogamy by : Mimi Schippers

Download or read book Beyond Monogamy written by Mimi Schippers and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through an investigation of sexual interactions and relationship forms that include more than two people, from polyamory, to threesomes, to the complexity of the "down-low" Schippers explores the queer, feminist, and anti-racist potential of multipartnered sex and relationships


Beyond the Politics of the Closet

Beyond the Politics of the Closet

Author: Jonathan Bell

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0812251857

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"This collection of essays seeks to explore the impact that gay rights politics and activism have had on the wider American political landscape since the rights revolutions of the 1960s"--


Book Synopsis Beyond the Politics of the Closet by : Jonathan Bell

Download or read book Beyond the Politics of the Closet written by Jonathan Bell and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This collection of essays seeks to explore the impact that gay rights politics and activism have had on the wider American political landscape since the rights revolutions of the 1960s"--


Treyf

Treyf

Author: Elissa Altman

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2024-01-02

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1504093550

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“[A] gorgeously-written . . . brave and generous memoir” about growing up in a family with conflicting ideas about being Jewish and finding your own path (Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author of Inheritance). Though culturally Jewish, Elissa Altman was not raised religious. Her mother, an aspiring actor, didn’t feel the ancient teachings of the Talmud were relevant to modern life. Her father, the son of a cantor whose family died in the Holocaust, was the consummate rule breaker, caught between his spiritual hunger and his ongoing culinary affair with shellfish and spam—all things treyf, that which is unkosher and therefore forbidden. Altman’s youth was laced with contradiction and hope, betrayal and the yearning to belong. Synagogue on Saturday and Chinese pork ribs on Sunday. Bacon for breakfast before going to visit her orthodox grandparents. Longing for the religious traditions that grounded her friends’ lives, Altman attended Hebrew school, only to discover her own prohibited desire for other women. After her parents’ marriage fell apart, Altman found a haven at her grandmother’s house, cooking meals that made her feel whole again while embracing her homosexuality. Her story is a poignant, humorous and uplifting account of learning how to honor your past while becoming your most authentic self. “What makes Treyf so original is the author’s wry humor and her gimlet eye. . . . Her prose shines.” —The Wall Street Journal “A beautiful, brilliant memoir filled with striking images, unforgettable people, and vivid stories. . . . Wrought with such visceral love that the pages shimmer.” —Kate Christensen, author of Blue Plate Special “Gorgeous, singular, heartbreaking, haunting.” —Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year “Hard to put down.” —Booklist “Poignant and life-affirming.” —Kirkus Reviews


Book Synopsis Treyf by : Elissa Altman

Download or read book Treyf written by Elissa Altman and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2024-01-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] gorgeously-written . . . brave and generous memoir” about growing up in a family with conflicting ideas about being Jewish and finding your own path (Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author of Inheritance). Though culturally Jewish, Elissa Altman was not raised religious. Her mother, an aspiring actor, didn’t feel the ancient teachings of the Talmud were relevant to modern life. Her father, the son of a cantor whose family died in the Holocaust, was the consummate rule breaker, caught between his spiritual hunger and his ongoing culinary affair with shellfish and spam—all things treyf, that which is unkosher and therefore forbidden. Altman’s youth was laced with contradiction and hope, betrayal and the yearning to belong. Synagogue on Saturday and Chinese pork ribs on Sunday. Bacon for breakfast before going to visit her orthodox grandparents. Longing for the religious traditions that grounded her friends’ lives, Altman attended Hebrew school, only to discover her own prohibited desire for other women. After her parents’ marriage fell apart, Altman found a haven at her grandmother’s house, cooking meals that made her feel whole again while embracing her homosexuality. Her story is a poignant, humorous and uplifting account of learning how to honor your past while becoming your most authentic self. “What makes Treyf so original is the author’s wry humor and her gimlet eye. . . . Her prose shines.” —The Wall Street Journal “A beautiful, brilliant memoir filled with striking images, unforgettable people, and vivid stories. . . . Wrought with such visceral love that the pages shimmer.” —Kate Christensen, author of Blue Plate Special “Gorgeous, singular, heartbreaking, haunting.” —Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year “Hard to put down.” —Booklist “Poignant and life-affirming.” —Kirkus Reviews