Understanding how your own choices and identity formation become part of a lineage of resistance, influencing what becomes possible for others with similar assigned identities.
Sor Juana lived over 350 years ago, yet her words and example continue to shape how people—especially cisgender women—imagine what is possible. This concept frames individual identity development as inherently connected to collective history and future possibility. When you examine your cisgender identity, you are not doing so in isolation; you are part of a lineage of people who have accepted, resisted, transformed, or transcended the gender categories assigned to them. Sor Juana's refusal to be limited by her assigned role created possibilities for those who came after. Her insistence on intellectual authority, her strategic use of religion and poetry, her refusal of motherhood, her unapologetic ambition—these were not purely personal choices but acts of resistance that shifted what was thinkable. In examining your own cisgender identity, consider: What inheritance have you received from those who came before? What limiting assumptions are you willing to challenge? What new possibilities might you create for those who come after? Your individual choices about how you live your cisgender identity ripple outward, becoming part of the collective legacy of what cisgender identity can mean.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
Explore related journeys or tell Peri what you're working through.