Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2015 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Sociology — African and African American Studies

In this superlative study, McCune (Washington Univ.) addresses the concept of the down lowofficially positioned as African American men having sex with other men while maintaining their relationships with their wives or girlfriendsin a sophisticated manner that transcends any of the popular literature on the subject.  A combination of ethnographic study, media analysis, and theoretical work, the book challenges both the media hysteria regarding the down low and what this conceptactuallyis.  Drawing on history and literature, the author demonstrates how the surveillance of black sexuality has forced many men who have sex with other men to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle in order to maintain the stability of more respectable images.  McCune has done his homework by interviewing dozens of men who have sex with men in clubs and Internet chat rooms.  He argues that one needs to understand these men beyond the pathologies of deviance and disease that have framed their narratives.  He interrogates popular magazines, television shows, and literature on the subject, demonstrating the structure of these discussions. Sexual Discretion is a must read for those working in the fields of sexuality, race, and gender studies.  One hopes that McCune will continue to revise his research in this rapidly changing culture.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.