Linguistic Justice and the Power of Words

Sor Juana was a master of language—poetry, theology, rhetoric, philosophy. She understood that whoever controls language controls the framework through which reality is perceived. When authorities called her intellectual ambitions unfeminine or heretical, they were not merely expressing opinions; they were wielding linguistic power to constrain her identity. This concept recognizes that fairness requires attention to who gets to speak, whose definitions prevail, and which voices are amplified or silenced. Language is not neutral. In any society, certain groups control the vocabulary of legitimacy, normalcy, and respectability. Fairness demands making this visible and redistributing linguistic power. Sor Juana's own brilliance with words was itself an act of claiming authority to define her own reality. Civilizations serious about justice must examine whose language dominates, whose accents are ridiculed, and whose stories get told—and actively work to create space for previously silenced voices to name their own experience.