How do I maintain my intellectual integrity when systems don't believe in my competence?

This is what Sor Juana lived. She was asked to prove herself constantly—her knowledge questioned, her motives doubted, her right to speak treated as provisional. Here's what sustained her: she kept thinking for herself, even when institutions tried to contain her. Maintaining intellectual integrity under systemic doubt means: First, develop your own criteria for what counts as good thinking. Don't entirely accept the institution's evaluation of your work—they have bias built in. Second, find people (even one person) who see your intellect clearly and can reflect it back when you start internalizing doubt. Third, document your ideas and contributions. When credit gets redirected or dismissed, you have the record. Fourth, sometimes you have to work around the system—publish elsewhere, create alternative spaces, collaborate with people who take you seriously. The exhausting part is that you have to do all this while doing your actual work. That's the injustice of it. But intellectual integrity isn't about everyone believing in you—it's about you knowing the quality of your own thinking and refusing to abandon it just because an unjust system keeps questioning it. Keep thinking. Keep writing. Keep knowing.