Epistemic Justice for Marginalized Desires

Sor Juana fought epistemic injustice—the denial of women's right to know, to speak, to be believed as authorities on intellectual matters. Her struggle for recognition as a knower illuminates contemporary challenges asexual and aromantic people face. Medical and psychological frameworks have historically pathologized asexual and aromantic orientations, denying these individuals epistemic authority over their own experience. Asexual and aromantic people know their own desires and lack thereof; they should be recognized as authorities on what they experience. Epistemic justice for asexual and aromantic people means: believing them when they report their lack of sexual or romantic attraction, recognizing their self-definitions, valuing their interpretation of their own needs and flourishing. This framework demands that asexual and aromantic voices shape narratives about asexuality and aromanticism, not external experts. Sor Juana's insistence on her own intellectual authority models how marginalized people can claim epistemic power. For asexual and aromantic individuals, epistemic justice means the right to define, interpret, and theorize their own experience without dismissal.