The Naming Question: Authority Over Self-Definition

Sor Juana chose her religious name, her literary pseudonym (the Phoenix), and how she would be known to posterity—asserting naming authority in a context where women typically received names from male authority figures. The naming question addresses the fundamental power dynamic: do others define you, or do you define yourself? This is central to identity across cultures, particularly where colonial, patriarchal, or marginalized systems externally impose identities. Self-naming—whether through choosing religious orders, pen names, renamed identities after immigration, or reclaiming ancestral names—represents a crucial act of sovereignty. Sor Juana's example illuminates how intellectual and creative work itself becomes a form of naming: through her writings, she named her own reality and refused the names others tried to impose. This concept applies to contemporary struggles over representation, where individuals and communities assert the right to define their own identities rather than accepting labels determined by dominant structures or external observers.