The Genealogy of Parental Obligation

Sor Juana's writings interrogate the sources of authority that demand women's obedience and self-negation. She traced these demands to tradition, interpretation, and power rather than to nature or divine mandate. Similarly, parents often assume their obligations are inevitable and natural when they are actually products of specific historical moments, economic systems, and cultural narratives. This concept invites parents to examine their own genealogy of obligation: Why do you believe you must be endlessly available? From whom did you inherit the idea that good parents erase themselves? What if these obligations were constructed by forces that benefited from parental self-sacrifice? Sor Juana's justice-centered epistemology teaches that naming the genealogy of obligation—seeing it as historical rather than inevitable—creates space for parental identity to be reimagined and reclaimed on terms that honor both commitment and selfhood.