Knowledge as Liberatory Practice

Sor Juana famously taught herself languages, theology, mathematics, and philosophy by obsessive reading and study. She understood knowledge not as academic accumulation but as liberation—freedom from ignorance, superstition, and others' definitions. Knowledge itself was an act of resistance. For adopted individuals, learning about adoption—its history, psychology, ethics, your own genealogy when possible—becomes a practice of liberation. Many adoptees are raised with incomplete, sanitized, or false information about adoption. You may learn that adoption narratives emphasize only gratitude and joy, erasing complexity, loss, and systemic issues. Educating yourself—through books, communities, therapy, genealogy—liberates you from false narratives. You learn that your struggles are not personal failures but understandable responses to adoption. You understand systemic patterns. This knowledge doesn't solve your adopted identity, but it transforms your relationship to it from confusion or shame into informed understanding. Sor Juana's model shows knowledge as the pathway from powerlessness toward agency.