Bodily Autonomy and the Right to Study

Sor Juana's entry into convent life—a controversial choice she defended as providing intellectual space free from marriage and motherhood—illustrates the connection between bodily autonomy and educational freedom. She claimed the right to dispose of her own body and time in service of her intellectual calling, refusing the reproductive and domestic labor expected of women. In Libertarian justice, bodily autonomy extends beyond negative freedom from violence to positive freedom to use one's body and time as one chooses, including for education and self-development. This framework protects against forced labor, mandatory reproductive roles, and institutional claims on one's time and energy. It establishes that freedom requires not only freedom from coercion but also time and resources for growth and learning. Sor Juana's assertion of her bodily autonomy demonstrates that property rights over oneself include the right to allocate one's own energy, attention, and embodied life toward chosen pursuits rather than assigned roles.