Tressie McMillan Cottom, writer, columnist, and professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University. In her new collection of essays, Cottom says her work is animated by what’s still seen as a “radical idea … black women are rational and human.” From that assumption, she works her way analytically through politics, economics, history, sociology and culture. But are we hearing every essential voice? Rhetorical question, because the answer is obviously no.įor example, not enough of us have heard the searing analysis from sociology professor and black feminist thinker Tressie McMillan Cottom. Thick: And Other Essays critically explores the interface between race, gender, and class to show how Black women are marginalized by society and their voices are ignored.Beauty. In “Girl 6,” McMillan Cottom analyzes how Black female voices are excluded from prestige media, arguing that the media needs more Black women’s voices.

“Black Girlhood, Interrupted” looks at the structural inequality that Black girls face which makes them more vulnerable to sexual abuse or neglect. “The Price of Fabulousness” considers the stigma that Black people face along the lines of class by showing how Black people have to present in certain ways to be treated properly by White society. She studies the problematic tension between privileged and working-class Black people to challenge the hierarchy within Black communities. In “Black Is Over (Or, Special Black),” McMillan Cottom reflects on the term “Blackness.” She explores how Whiteness defines itself against Blackness. She explores how President Donald Trump was elected after President Barack Obama by studying how White people maintain their power. In “Know Your Whites,” McMillan Cottom analyzes Whiteness.

McMillan Cottom uses her own experience of losing a child as an entry point into a larger exploration of structural inequality and how perceptions of incompetence are used against Black women. “Dying to Be Competent” turns to how the expertise of Black women is undermined.

“In the Name of Beauty” explores how beauty is linked to “Whiteness.” Beauty is a cultural concept that values White culture at the expense of Black culture. The term “thick” references curvier or plus-size bodies, but it is also a method of sociological inquiry that centers lived experience and extensive description. The first essay, “Thick,” explores how Black women and girls are understood, treated, and disadvantaged by a society that systematically undervalues Black females.

Thick by cottom