The Moral Cost of Convenience

Sor Juana questioned what society presented as natural or inevitable, insisting on examining whether accepted practices were truly justified. This concept applies that critical consciousness to animal exploitation normalized through human convenience. Factory farming exists not because it is necessary but because it is profitable and convenient for consumers unwilling to examine what their choices cost. The normalization of animal products obscures the suffering involved, much as patriarchal systems obscured women's suffering by presenting inequality as natural. This framework asks: what justifies imposing severe harm on millions of sentient beings so that humans can avoid minor inconvenience? Sor Juana's intellectual honesty demands we refuse comfortable lies. She repeatedly chose intellectual integrity over safety; this concept suggests that genuine justice requires choosing ethical consistency over convenience. It does not demand that everyone become vegan overnight, but it insists on honest reckoning with what normalized practices actually entail. By bringing the concealed suffering of animals into conscious awareness, we can evaluate whether the moral cost exceeds the convenience gained and whether justice permits such calculations at all.