Refusal of Complementarity: Wholeness Without the Other

Patriarchal logic frames women (and people generally) as incomplete halves requiring romantic/sexual completion. A woman needed a man; a person needed a partner. Sor Juana rejected this complementarity myth. She was not a half waiting for her other half; she was whole unto herself. For asexual and aromantic individuals, refusal of complementarity is foundational. Asexual and aromantic people are not deficient individuals waiting for the right person to complete them. They are whole, integrated beings whose flourishing does not require sexual or romantic partnership. This framework counters profound cultural conditioning that treats singleness as temporary incompleteness. Sor Juana's life demonstrates that a person can be fully realized without marriage, without sexual partnership, oriented entirely toward intellectual and creative purpose. Asexual and aromantic people can embrace this model: wholeness now, not contingent on future romantic discovery. This concept challenges the most basic assumption underlying compulsory sexuality and romance—that partnership is prerequisite to humanity.