Defense and Justification of One's Becoming

Sor Juana's "Response to Sor Filotea" is a masterpiece of self-defense, justifying her intellectual pursuits against accusations that they violated her duties. Parents similarly feel compelled to defend their right to becoming: to pursue education, career advancement, creative work, or personal growth. This constant justification is itself a form of oppression—the demand that parents prove their worthiness to claim identity beyond caregiving. The concept examines this exhausting labor of defense and the injustice embedded in it. Why should parents need to justify their becoming? This Sophos teaches that justice requires shifting the burden: instead of parents defending their right to intellectual or creative life, society must justify why it demands their erasure. For parents to thrive, the default assumption must reverse—that all humans deserve becoming, and parental role enhances rather than cancels this right. The energy spent defending becomes available for actual becoming.