Rights to Autonomy and Self-Determination

Sor Juana claimed the right to remain unmarried, to pursue education, to question authority, and to live according to her own values—radical assertions for a 17th-century cisgender woman. This concept grounds cisgender identity not in assignment or appearance but in the freedom to determine one's own life trajectory. Rights to autonomy and self-determination are essential to authentic cisgender identity, yet are historically denied to assigned-female people regardless of their alignment with gender assignment. This framework asks: what rights do you claim for your cisgender identity? Do you have the right to remain single, to pursue chosen work, to question religious or cultural authority, to live unconventionally? How has your cisgender identity been used to limit rather than expand your autonomy? True justice requires that cisgender identity—all versions of it—comes with fundamental rights to choose, question, and create meaningful life rather than merely inhabit prescribed roles.