The End of Love

Racism, Sexism, and the Death of Romance

By: Sabrina Strings

Narrated by: Janice Lynn Sykes

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

From Playboy to Jay-Z, the racial origins of toxic masculinity and its impact on women, especially Black and “insufficiently white” women

More men than ever are refusing loving partnerships and commitment, and instead seeking out “situationships.” When these men deign to articulate what they are looking for in a steady partner, they’ll often rely on superficial norms of attractiveness rooted in whiteness and anti-Blackness.

Connecting the past to the present, sociologist Sabrina Strings argues that following the Civil Rights movement and the integration of women during the Second Wave Feminist movement, men aimed to hold on to their power by withholding love and commitment, a basic tenet of white supremacy and male domination, that served to manipulate all women. From pornography to hip hop, women—especially Black and “insufficiently white” women—were presented as gold diggers, props for masturbation, and side-pieces.

Using historical research, personal stories, and critical analysis, Strings argues that the result is fuccboism, the latest incarnation of toxic masculinity. This work shows that men are not innately “toxic.” Nor do they hate love, commitment, or sex. Instead, men across race have been working a new code to effectively deny loving partnerships to women who are not pliant, slim, and white as a new mode of male domination.

©2024 Sabrina Strings (P)2024 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“[A] blistering critique on love and relationships . . . Personal, historical, rigorous and readable, this is a fresh and essential feminist analysis on sexism, whiteness and toxic masculinity.”—Ms. Magazine

“A critical and impassioned look at contemporary romantic norms and how they have been poisoned and perverted by racism and sexism . . . A provocative and enraging book.”—Rebecca Traister, author of All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation

“Only Sabrina Strings could take on medieval courtship, the cultural history of side chicks, and racialized beauty norms in a single book. Reading it feels like spending time with a brilliant friend. Dr. Strings brings wisdom, vulnerability, and love to each chapter. The End of Love has the potential to change how we swipe and shows what’s possible if we break up with the heteronormative, white supremacist ideals of courtship and romance.”—Jonathan Van Ness, writer, comedian, and television personality