July 2nd 2023.
Zorine Truly, a Tennessee native with a degree in Fine Arts and African-American Studies, recently realized her dream of launching her own art gallery - HoochieCon. This event was held the weekend of June 16 and was meant to highlight and honor hoochie feminism. It featured mixed media art, vendors, and music to celebrate the sexual liberation of Black women through their undeniable influence in music, beauty, art, fashion, and culture.
Truly decorated Junior High’s gallery for the occasion, filling it with artwork that explored the foundational cultural impact of the hoochie archetype. The three-day-long festival featured different exercises and vendors to provide the attendees with an opportunity to reconnect with their most confident and authentic selves. Music and dance were two key components that Truly wanted to emphasize during the weekend.
According to Truly, the most important thing to take away from HoochieCon was the importance of being yourself, no matter what people might judge you by. “It’s important to be happy with how you look, how you feel, how you dress, and the choices that you make, and that is the most important thing. I want people, especially Black women, to take away that they can be fully themselves no matter what that looks like and still be worthy of all the good things.”
Earyn McGee, an attendee of HoochieCon, felt that she achieved her goal. She said, “I am the oldest daughter in a Black family and definitely felt like I had to perform a certain way of being and show up physically a certain way. Even with my outfit for today, I was a little bit nervous, but I was just like, ‘I’m trying to be in theme. This was an idea that I had, and I’m just going to go with it.’ I’m trying to do all the things that would’ve made kid-me happy.”
It is clear that Zorine Truly’s HoochieCon was a resounding success. The event gave Black women a chance to reconnect with their sexuality in a free and unjudged way. It was a safe space for them to be their most confident and authentic selves. Truly’s hope is that attendees will take away an understanding of the importance of being true to one’s self, regardless of any outside judgement.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
