The Right to Intellectual Motherhood

Sor Juana fiercely defended her right to study, write, and think despite societal pressure to abandon intellectual pursuits for maternal or religious duties. For modern parents, particularly mothers, this concept challenges the assumption that parental identity must subsume individual intellectual growth. Becoming a parent need not mean losing access to knowledge, justice-oriented work, or identity-defining pursuits. This framework validates the parent who maintains scholarly ambitions, creative practice, or professional development alongside caregiving. It reframes parental identity not as a replacement of self, but as an expansion that includes both nurturing others and continuing one's own becoming. Sor Juana's life demonstrates that parents can model intellectual integrity and the pursuit of truth for their children while remaining fully themselves.