Downlow Myth

 

It was Martin Luther King’s birthday and I felt weird watching Love and Hip Hop, so I decided to watch something more constructive in the form of the Black List. The Black List is a HBO special where they interview influential black people. Lee Daniels was one of the people they interviewed. In his interview his attributes down low men as a lead contributing factor to black women getting HIV/AIDS. His intent was to show how homophobia was destroying the black community and we should be more open-minded.

I’m not sure if I ever heard a gay man say such a thing. Honestly, I was a believer once upon time. Getting more involved in the LGBT community, I started to think maybe the DL myth was just shrouded homophobia.

The DL myth as I like to call it, is everywhere. I was watching Girlfriends on Sunday and there was an episode where an old friend contracted HIV from her husband because he was a closeted homosexual. Sherri Shepard from The View said down low men were responsible for affecting women with HIV. Even Oprah hopped on the bandwagon when she featured a woman on her show that sued her ex-husband for millions, because he affected her with HIV. He was also a closeted gay man.

You can’t forget J.L. King fostered in this term down low with his book, “On the Down Low”. Obviously, it was about ‘straight’ men who slept with other men. As a result, black culture has never been the same.

So, I ask is there any truth to the paranoia?  Not according to my research. I was not able to find one credible source saying down low men were responsible for the large increase in HIV among black women. I found an article that contained an interview with Kevin Fenton who researches HIV in the black community. He works for the Center for Disease Control. When asked about the DL myth. Here’s what he had to say: “Yes, that would be true. It is crucially important to bear in mind that there are a range of risk factors, which face black women in the United States today. And, you know, the reality is that bisexual black men account for a very, very small proportion of the overall black male population in the United States. And, therefore, you need to look at the risk factors, which are far more prevalent in the community - having multiple sexual partners with unprotected sex with heterosexual partners, injecting drugs. Those are going to be factors, which are far more prevalent in the population and are driving risks.”

Another interesting piece of information from this interview: “women may not be able to negotiate safer sex and protected behaviors because of fear of losing eligible male partners in the community.”

I feel like the DL myth prevents us from having a more important conversation about black women and sexuality. To contract HIV at these rates, safe sex isn’t being practiced very often. Like Kevin mentioned, many women don’t like to push the issue. I’ve heard women say they don’t want to carry condoms because they don’t want to be perceived as promiscuous. I’ve heard we’re in love and in a monogamous relationship (the monogamous relationship is usually one-sided). He doesn’t want to, he says he doesn’t feel anything and the list goes on.

The conversation about female autonomy is the one we should be having. A woman who carries a condom should be seen as woman who is protecting herself, not as a slut. Women should understand that a man, who cares for you, would respect your wishes and wear a condom.  How can someone love you and not care about keeping you safe? Isn’t that what love is?