Meet Zora Voyce, Founder & CEO of VoyceChoice & MyPurora

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Meet Zora Voyce she is the Founder and CEO VoyceChoice & My Purora. Zora is an HIV positive, African American, young non-cis-woman living in New York City who says she gets to define my own self-worth. 

What tips do you have for tuning into yourself & tuning out external criticism?

Tuning out unreasonable external criticism is fairly easy for me because I know my actions are a reflection of my own internal work with myself. What I put out into the world has to go through me internally first. I like to call myself a practical daredevil because I behave outside of society norms which is highly discouraged. My way of life requires me to be aware and question how social norms affect people's behavior toward their self and others. 

Why were social norms created? 

They were created to oppress and disconnect people from themselves by threatening their self worth within our community. Examples of social norms are stereotypes and stigma related topics which are formulated entirely by lies in hopes to establish a group called patriarchy. 

What causes people to follow social norms? 

People are influenced by the vast majority, if everyone is doing it then I can do it too type of mindset which is called groupthink. Thinking outside of groupthink can be frightening because we fear the consequences of doing so and the potential threat to our self image and worth which has already been established by the patriarchy.

How did you break free of social norms?

1)Knowing that my self worth is defined by how I feel about myself internally and not externally. 

2)Writing my own story and not following the story written for me at birth. 

3) Asking the question why to myself and others. I believe it’s important to know the reason behind my beliefs. 

My decision to commit to myself for a lifetime is what drives me to push forward and tune out all the noise that is intended to oppress me. I choose to freely think for myself through exploration and awareness which comes from the beautiful relationship I created within myself first. Always remember what we put out into the world is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves from within or lack of.

You can follow Zora on her own Instagram as well as VoyceChoice & MyPurora. Also, be sure to check out Zora’s Link Tree to start embodying your sexuality.


A CYP Interview