Thick: And Other Essays

Then, and only then, will you understand the relative value of a ridiculous status symbol to someone who intuits that they cannot afford to not have it.

Gatekeeping is a complex job of managing boundaries that do not just define others but also define ourselves. Status symbols—silk shells, designer shoes, luxury handbags—become keys to unlock these gates.

We do not share much in the U.S. culture of individualism except our delusions about meritocracy.

It was over a plate of ribs at my aunt’s dining room table that I learned that being a woman is about what men are allowed to do to you.

As being taken seriously becomes a form of reputational capital in a culture where reputation is like the Bitcoin of status cultures, being taken seriously is real work.

Saying why it matters is one of those sticky things about my work.

More often than not the hierarchy of diffuse status characteristics overpowers any status characteristics that we earn.

Big Beauty is just negging without the slimy actor. The constant destabilization of self is part and parcel of beauty’s effectiveness as a social construct.

Whether at a dinner table or in grand theories, the false choice between black-black and worthy black is a trap. It poses that ending blackness was the goal of anti-racist work when the real goal has always been and should always be ending whiteness.