Epistemic Justice and Medical Silencing

Sor Juana's era dismissed women as unreliable knowers; contemporary medicine often dismisses patient testimony in favor of objective tests and physician interpretation. This concept applies epistemic justice frameworks to chronic illness: patients are systematically denied credibility regarding their own experience, pain, and needs. Your report of what you feel is questioned, minimized, reframed, or dismissed—a silencing strikingly similar to what Sor Juana experienced. Reclaiming epistemic justice means asserting your authority as the primary expert on your own body and experience. You know your pain better than anyone; you understand your limitations and capacities; your testimony about your condition deserves credibility. This is not anti-medical but a corrective: integrate medical expertise with patient knowledge. Sor Juana insisted her thinking had validity despite her marginalization; the chronically ill must similarly insist their knowledge of themselves be respected and centered, resisting the epistemic humiliation embedded in being consistently disbelieved.