In the modern day, to call oneself a “hoe”/“ho” is to socially slander yourself. To a vast majority of people, the word “hoe” is a derogatory term, used to shame people (mostly women) who are more sexually explicit and sexually active than what is assumed to be socially acceptable — which, to a lot of society, is any sexual activity. The word ‘hoe’ is meant to make women feel and seem less-worthy of respect compared to men, or even a woman who is not known for her open sexuality. Chances are, if you’ve been called a hoe before, you’ve felt offended and upset, but the good news is that you don’t have to be.
The beauty in words is that, while they’re connected to meanings, you control the power over those meanings. A denotation is the direct meaning of a word, separated from any second meanings it might have. A connotation is that second meaning. Connotations are the meanings of a word that you might not know off the top of your head. They’re the second meanings that you most likely won’t find in Webster’s. Connotations, in this case, are your friend.
You can use the word ‘whip’ as an example. The denotation (the original, and for the most part, universal definition of a word) for the word ‘whip’, according to Dictionary.com, is “an instrument for striking . . .” However, the connotation (the secondary, unofficial, ‘slang’ meaning) of the word means a vehicle or automobile. According to Urban Dictionary, this derives from the first steering wheels used in vehicles being referred to as ‘whips,’ which were what people used to direct their horses and other animals when riding in stagecoaches, their former mode of transportation. A whip and a vehicle are two completely different things, but with the power of association and connotation, we are able to connect the two subjects with a singular word.
What do whips and cars have to do with being a self-proclaimed hoe? Well, they’re going to help you whip your way into becoming one too.
I’ve recently named my Instagram account “hoeishly” and as you might guess, people have acquired questions about it. My sister, who attends the high school I graduated from a year ago, has been getting questions from her friends about why I would call myself a hoe. The answer to that question is simple: the word hoe is what I make it. It has become what I've made it. Inspired by the “arthoe” movement — a movement to empower black artists and creators — I decided to use the (super)power that connotations give me, to take back the term ‘hoe’ for myself. I have stripped the word as best I could from the meanings 'unrespectable,' 'wanting,' 'whore,' 'easy,' as well as any other negative and assumptive definition. And over the course of the past three months, the word ‘hoe,’ to me, has come to mean “someone who loves.” Someone who loves sex, someone who loves art, someone who loves words, whatever it may be, as long as it involves passion.
And the beauty about that is this: I’m not afraid or ashamed to be someone who loves or is passionate about something, and I don’t believe anyone else should be either. With the word ‘hoe’, people will assume what they want — that you have sexual intercourse with abandon, that you are promiscuous, etc. However, as long as you understand the word’s meaning to you, then no other meaning should matter. By reconstructing the meaning of the word 'hoe' in my own mind, I've taken away any negative meaning it might have had for myself, and stripped it back to what it is: a word.
So, if you’re feeling a little risqué, self-accepting, passionate, and full of love, I encourage you to do the same for yourself and go out and live life hoeishly.
