In higher education, there is a virtual cottage industry of academics declaring everything from math to meritocracy to be forms of white supremacy and racism. Now, it appears romance will be added to the list. University of California Santa Barbara Black Studies Professor Sabrina Strings has written how romance promotes white supremacy and “global pigmentocracy.” In The End of Love: Racism, Sexism, and the Death of Romance, Strings recounts having “endured” her own bad relationships and maintains that “Romance is an old white cultural institution that began in the Middle Ages.” In an interview with The Current, Strings explains that “I am only one of the millions of Gen X-to-Gen Z women who have endured a seemingly endless array of miserable relationships with men.”
In viewing romance through her own lens, Strings comes up with distinctly different views of literature and famous relationships. For example, many people have read the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, a story of forbidden love that introduced disharmony and disaster to King Arthur’s Round Table. It is a story of love and eventual betrayal. It is both irresistible and irrational. Many accounts show Lancelot rescuing Guinevere and, torn by their mutual loyalty to King Arthur, the couple finally succumbs to the inexorable pull of love to each other. It is a tragedy of love and loyalty that leaves everyone in ruin. Arthur would die of wounds in the later battles, Guinevere would die in a convent, and Lancelot would, according to some accounts, die as a hermit. It is a powerful tale of how love can overwhelm all other considerations and shatter every other bond.
That is not exactly how Professor Strings sees it. She says that the tale is really about how a man of lower status is trying to secure greater power and prestige by seducing a higher class European Christian woman: “Love is very much about generosity but romance is very much about what you can get from somebody, especially if you’re a man who is social climbing.”
Professor Strings zeros in on the beauty and whiteness of Guinevere. She notes that the queen was viewed as irresistibly attractive and pale in complexion:
“We can easily recognize these features today as those representing the apex of whiteness, even though race did not exist at the time of Troyes’s writing. Nevertheless, to the extent that some of these representations occurred before the seventeenth century dawn of race science, they have what historians have called a ‘proto-racist’ bent. Indeed, scholars have shown that the preference for light skin, hair, and eyes existed prior to the advent of racism, and that these characteristics were co-opted by it and enlisted for the purpose of installing a global pigmentocracy.”
The “whitenesss” could also simply reflect the racial makeup of the historical characters as opposed to any “global pigmentocracy.” Yet, according to Professor Strings, romance is about “women who are not peak white or are ‘insufficiently white’ are subject deservedly to deceit, manipulation, assault and rape.”
Professor Strings previously wrote a 2019 book about how “fatphobia” is rooted in racism.
In today’s academic environment, there often seems a rush to racialize common practices, customs, or terminology. Publications clamor for such articles and discovering another hidden racist element in society can bring academic accolades. However, others have already staked out many areas such as mathematics, astrophysics, statistics, meritocracy, climate change, dieting, tipping, skiing, chess, and organized pantries. Most recently, the American Psychological Association declared that merit-based hiring may be racist. Even robots are now declared to be part of the supremacist menace because they are often made of white plastic.
Heterosexual romance occurs in all human cultures since time immemorial. It is biological in origin, fueled by sex hormones, oxytocin and pheromones. Here we go again with the post-modernist conspiracy theorizing about white Europeans, aggrandizing their powers of dominance and control, and conferring victimhood on behalf of nonwhites. Honestly, JT, why do you bother giving inkspace to rubbish topics like this? Better people like Strings are just ignored, or their innane beliefs mocked. Taking it seriously is the wrong response, because it raises questions about whether you are a serious person.
After reading Ted Kocynsky’s manifesto it became clear white people were trying to transform black people into white people. Ms. String is merely echoing that sentiment.
Perhaps Ms String has an alternate idea for propagation of the species? Stallions and herds of mares? Visiting fathers? Ah ha! Sperm banks.
Ted Kocynsky was a Harvard fellow aka the unabomber.
Oakland is replacing traffic lights with stop signs because ‘some people’ keep stealing the copper wire for the lights. This is a big problem in South Africa, too, which has many things in common with Oakland. I think white supremacists invented traffic lights so now that racist problem, along with education, stores, law, public safety, civilization is being dealt with.
Another way white supremacy was seen to be spoken out against recently
was when Biden gave his speech at Morehouse College.
With less than 24 of the 400 people graduating applauding for him.
Perhaps that would be better if you said ‘gradulating’.
Go gatah. Go gatah. Go gatah.
“I am only one of the millions of Gen X-to-Gen Z women who have endured a seemingly endless array of miserable relationships with men.”
So your inability to make good choices in finding a partner is somehow society’s faut?
“I am only one of the millions of Gen X-to-Gen Z women who have endured a seemingly endless array of miserable relationships with men.”
In other words: “I’m an utter failure at romance. So there must be something wrong with romance.”
I recall when Tiger Woods first took the golf world by storm in the latter 1990’s, he was racially described as cablanasian —- caucasian; black; Thai; and two other racial components I don’t recall at the moment.
This ‘Professor’ who teaches in Southern California has produced a piece of work which is such drivel it should be described as an affront to science
Again, we visit the twilight zone.
So guess The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu 1,000 years ago, is white supremacy….they just make shit up to fuss about.
Wait.
Who was the first man on the moon?
Who was the first man to deploy atomic power?
Answer: Nelson Mandela. No, no! Martin Luther King.
Now there was a supremacist.
Did I get it right?
Mandela was a Communist and look how South Africa turned out under black rule. MLK was a plagiarist and cheat.
As for inventions, who invented universities, steam power, photography, photographs, movies, television, telephones, trains, freeways, subs, airplanes, autos antibiotics, microscopes, and pretty much everything else? Using any of those is cultural appropriation, isn’t it?
“IT’S OK TO BE WHITE.”
– Rasmussen Poll
____________________
Only 53% of blacks agree.
47% of blacks disagree.
__________________________
“Blacks are a hate group.”
“As you know, I’ve been identifying as Black for a while – years now – because I like – you know, I like to be on the winning team.”
“The best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people.”
“Just get the f*** away.”
“Wherever you have to go, just get away because there’s no fixing this.”
“You just have to escape, so that’s what I did.”
– Scott Adams, “Dilbert”
___________________________
Even for the deranged, hysterical, incoherent, bleeding-heart, liberal, progressive, socialist, democrat, RINO, AINO communists, “…THERE’S NO FIXING THIS!”
Yes, I’ll keep romance. The alternative appears to be getting knocked out and kicked in an elevator, being dragged down a hotel hallway while being body kicked or being decapitated by an ex-husband somewhere near Rockingham. Yes, I’ll keep romance, Ms. String.
This column was written to point out the total silliness of people who see white supremacy under every rock. One of the most prominent white supremacist was the founder of Planned Parent Hood, Margaret Sanger. Her intention was to limit the number of births of black people because she considering the blacks to be an inferior race. Planned Parenthood has done a very fine job to help bring her philosophy to fruition. Ms Sanger had to have believed that romance was missing from the black population and only animal instinct was the motive for
relationships between black men and women. Ms Sanger and this fine educator have a great deal in common. Just as Bill Maher said recently, “There are eight billion people on the planet so we won’t miss them.” I think the world would be sad if we were to know what their contribution to mankind would have been. Planned Cull The Heard Parenthood.
One cannot extoll equality by promoting divisivness. Any group that implies or explicitly utilizes hyphenated names (African-American, Asian-American, White-American, Democrat Republican, Catholic, Presbyterian, Muslum, Hindu, Athiest, Whatever-American, Fill-In-the-Blank American) is simply promoting new versions of separate-but-equal thinking. And, by corollary, the same rebuttal applies to gender. If the sexes are equal, why man-hatred, why pride celebrations, why anti-sexuality actions like man buns, overly aggressive body hair removal, pronoun diminution, or body sanitation products to mask natural body odors, pheromones, or perfumes/colognes?
Any human being on Earth theoretically must interact with 6.5 billion other human beings. Separateness, prejudice, or specious logic to start a discussion is counter-productive from the start. Quoting an old movie, “Be nice!”
People like this insane professor who sees ills around every corner do not want equality. They would be very happy to see the white and Asian races subjugated or worse. This is certainly not how all blacks feel, but the loud minority do.
@Anonymous
Actually, that’s an interesting point: none of us (and I’m sorry, I don’t have a link, this is dated by years) can keep track of more than 50 people, max, our brains simply aren’t designed that way; do not be impressed by anyone on social media with a kajillion followers, roughly 5% of them actually interact or spend, ‘influencers’ make their money through advertising and sponsorships, not their followers. Yes, they are basically shills for corporations, and that make it all the more rich and ironic in the current climate among the youth. 🙄 The payola scams of the past seem quaint.
No one interacts with billions of people. No. One. I do not care what their Instagram says. That is part of the issue. We have never had this many people on the planet, we are absolutely divided into clusters, and it is not physically or mentally possible for all of those separate realities to interact and find consensus. It is precisely why our Constitution is a a master stroke and unique on the planet – it actually allows for that assuming everyone is willing to follow some basics that make perfect sense. And it is precisely why aristocratic globalism will serve no one but the aristocrats. They are the most ignorant, sheltereda humans on the planet, they just have enough money to conceal it.
I emailed Professor Nutbar directly. Expressed hiw lucky she was to live and wok in Samta Barbara, the whitest town in California. This was her reply
Dear Sherry,
Thank you for your hate mail! Imagine taking time out of your day as a supposedly happy person to send a vile message to a stranger about a book you haven’t read.
I have posted your email to my social media accounts, which will drive traffic and book sales 😉
Please feel free to send a photo, so that my fans can put a face to a name.
I also plan to send your message to campus police–which is where all hate mail goes.
Sincerely,
It seems that if one’s tool box does not have a set of diverse tools (e.g. one has only a hammer), then one’s response to all situations will be the same (e.g. everything looks like a nail). Thus if one presupposes racism underlies every outcome and has no experience in considering other possibilities, then everything is racist. Eventually, this trend will burn itself out as any new “insights” become more and more far fetched.
Why on earth does UCSB hire so many unqualified DEI professors? Anyone who can solve that has come up with the solution to what ails America
Diversity is a nominally secular religious (i.e. behavioral protocol or model) belief dictated by those who selfie-identify as mortal gods and goddesses (and otherX) who deny the individual dignity of men, women, boys, girls, and babies… fetuses… carbon-based conceptions, and bray that people should be judged in color blocs, and, generally, under the umbrella of class bigotry, including: racism, sexism, etc. Competence is a “burden”… uh, burden for their faith.
oh oh oh caught in bad romance ra ra ramalah
Bell curve
@Traveler
Yup.
Anti-Abortion Movement Based On White Christian Ideals
Nearly 7 million of the country’s 11.8 million Black women of reproductive age live in states with abortion restrictions or plans to implement them, according to a new report from a pair of reproductive rights organizations.
The report illustrates the number of Black women affected by abortion restrictions across the country. It was released Wednesday by the National Partnership for Women & Families, or NPWF, and the organization In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda.
According to the report, 57% of Black women ages 15 to 49 (which the organizations consider reproductive age) live in states with bans or threats to abortion access.
Regina Davis Moss, president of In Our Own Voice, said, “Part of the history around these issues is that too often the experiences of women of color, specifically Black women, but Latinas, Native women, AAPI women, were ignored. The assumption was that what works for white women works for everybody.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna151972#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17161453222540&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com
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The majority of American Black women live in states whose legislatures are run by White male conservatives. Abortion bans are drafted according to romanticized White Christian ideals.
The Pro-Life movement is based on human evolution and human rights.
Planned Parenthood or the wicked solution is a human rite performed for social, clinical, criminal, political, and fair weather progress to keep women affordable, available, reusable, and taxable, and the “burden” of evidence sequestered in darkness.
There is no mystery in sex and conception. A human life is viable from six weeks until granny passes (i.e. Her Choice) in all 50 states, excluding Democratic jurisdictions, liberal sanctuaries, and DC where Capitol punishment is celebrated.
Albinophobia is a common condition in black African cultures and Rainbow regimes. There are other conflicts: Zulu vs Mandela’s Xhosa, Tutsi vs Hutu, Deplorables vs Kenyan elite, etc.