The Naming of Silencing

Sor Juana's 'Response to Sor Filotea' names her silencing: the institutional pressure to stop studying, the gendered restrictions on women's intellectual authority, the fear of ecclesiastical punishment. By naming it, she resists its normalization. In religious identity transitions, this practice is crucial. Silencing often works invisibly: members internalize prohibitions, accept the framing that their doubts are sinful rather than intelligent, hide their true selves. The practice of naming—saying aloud 'I was told my questions were not permitted,' 'I was shamed for thinking differently,' 'My authority over my own beliefs was denied'—breaks the spell. It transforms shame into clarity and internalized oppression into visible injustice. This naming can occur in therapy, journaling, conversation with trusted others, or public testimony. Sor Juana shows that naming one's silencing is an act of resistance and reclamation. It is also necessary psychological work for anyone healing from religious transition, particularly those who experienced coercive control or emotional manipulation. The truth, named, loses its power to silence.