Justice Across Difference

Sor Juana recognized that formal equality—treating everyone identically—can perpetuate injustice when people begin from unequal positions. A woman denied education cannot benefit equally from laws allowing anyone to study. This distinction between equality and equity is central to her vision of fairness. Civilizations often mistake sameness for justice, applying identical rules to unequal situations. True fairness requires differentiation: some need more support, some face steeper obstacles, some require specific recognition of their distinct circumstances. Sor Juana lived this reality—she could not follow the same path as male intellectuals, so she forged another, but the system remained unjust because she had to work around barriers others never faced. Modern application: fair hiring may require targeted recruitment; fair education may require additional resources for disadvantaged students; fair healthcare may require culturally specific approaches. This concept insists that fairness is not one-size-fits-all but responsive to concrete human situations. Justice requires seeing people in their particularity and adjusting systems to ensure everyone can genuinely flourish.