Feminist Critique of Domination Logic

Sor Juana's intellectual work exposed how patriarchy operates through systematic hierarchies: rational/irrational, mind/body, human/animal, civilization/nature. These binaries justify domination at every level. Feminist animal theory, extending Sor Juana's critique, reveals how these same hierarchies enable exploitation of animals, nature, and marginalized humans. The association of animals with the body, emotion, and irrationality mirrors how women were stereotyped as emotional and irrational to deny them intellectual standing. Sor Juana's defense of women's intellectual capacities and her early scientific curiosity about the natural world suggest a different epistemology—one that doesn't divide reality into dominating mind and dominated matter. Animal rights becomes feminist work when it challenges the logic of domination itself. This means moving beyond assimilating animals into human-centered moral frameworks toward questioning the hierarchical thinking that makes domination seem natural and justified in the first place.