People use this kind of expression when they want to talk dismissively about something. Speaking "dismissively" means talking about something in a way that shows that you don't think it's important. In the example above, the speaker doesn't like cutesy women, so he calls that way of behaving "the whole cutesy thing".

You usually use a noun in this phrase:

I don't know much about the whole politics thing.

Don't come to me with the whole "Oh, poor me!" thing. I don't want to hear it.