In these eight essays covering her own pregnancy, beauty, culture of competence, and black girlhood, as well as eviscerating critiques of whiteness in American life, Thick centers black women experiences and asserts black women wisdom. “We are social issues to be solved, economic problems to be balanced, and emotional baggage to be overcome.” McMillan Cottom situates her personal stories as the lens to delve deeper into social constructions that perpetuate inequities and harm. That is not the same thing as causing problems,” writes McMillan Cottom in Thick. “Black girls and black women are problems. American society is selective when choosing to recognize the fullness of my humanity-and too often, it chooses to deem my existence a problem. I don’t fit the projected expectations of what a woman of my size and shade should be. I don’t quite fit the contours of our society: I’m at an age that firmly situates me between boomer and millennial. People have increasing anxiety about their job security because of the increasing deregulations of neoliberalism and the precarization of work, and LinkedIn’s promises of endorsements and networking are an inadequate balm to this anxiety.Too often, I’m led to believe that I don’t belong anywhere. She points to LinkedIn as an exemplar of the promises that technology fails to meet. Neoliberal capitalism celebrates competence and productivity, shifting the critique from structural questions to one of individual hard work and competence. She uses this moment to reflect on the reality that for the first time in her life, she can afford all of the lifestyle perks of a middle-class person. She reflects on this desire for competence from a freezing house in Virginia because she has forgotten to pay her bill. She doesn’t dream about a husband, or a wedding, or babies but she fantasizes about the sound of high heels clicking on the floor as she walks purposefully with a briefcase, embodying competence.
As a child, McMillan Cottom dreams of being competent.
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