The framework that gender justice is not absolute but conditional upon interrogating the systems that benefit certain identities, as Sor Juana demonstrated through her strategic navigation of power.
Sor Juana understood that her intellectual rights were contingent—dependent on patronage, religious orthodoxy, and careful navigation of male authority. This reveals a crucial insight for cisgender identity examination: the rights and privileges attached to cisgender status are not naturally justified but are conditions of specific historical and social systems. True justice requires not merely defending cisgender identity but examining the systems through which it gains privilege. This means acknowledging that cisgender identity has been conditionally granted authority—authority that must be scrutinized and potentially redistributed. Sor Juana's legacy teaches that intellectual and social progress requires those benefiting from conditional justice to recognize its contingency. For people examining cisgender identity, this involves asking: What systems support cisgender privilege? What would genuine justice look like if we dismantled those systems? How can we work toward universal human rights rather than defending a privileged position?
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