The Body as Site of Knowledge and Resistance

Sor Juana's body was a site of discipline and control—her intellectual authority threatened by demands she conform to feminine corporeality. Yet her physical presence in the convent, her continued writing, her documented acts of small rebellion all constituted resistance through embodiment. Animals similarly express knowledge and agency through bodies: a caged animal's pacing reveals psychological distress; a rescued animal's relaxed posture demonstrates trust; herd animals' coordinated movement expresses collective intelligence. This concept refuses mind-body dualism in animal ethics, recognizing that animal bodies are not mere instruments but sites where consciousness, memory, and intention manifest. When we dismiss animal embodied knowledge—their movements, their responses, their presence—we repeat the epistemological violence done to women and colonized peoples. Moral consideration must include respecting what animal bodies communicate, not overriding it with human interpretations.