Embodied Epistemic Justice

Sor Juana's work exemplifies epistemic injustice—the systematic dismissal of knowledge from women, particularly women of color and religious women. Her physical presence as a knower was undermined; her body was deemed unreliable, her testimony questionable, her intellectual capacity doubtful. Embodied epistemic justice means recognizing that knowledge emerges through and from specific bodies, and that those bodies (especially marginalized ones) have been systematically excluded from authority. In terms of physical self-concept, this means valuing your body not as an object to be aestheticized but as a site of knowing—your embodied experience contains legitimate knowledge about the world. This framework transforms body image from external validation toward embodied expertise; your body knows things your mind hasn't yet articulated. Reclaiming epistemic credibility for your physical experience is an act of identity restoration.