The Refusal to be Diminished

Sor Juana refused to accept others' definitions of what she could think, know, or achieve. The refusal to be diminished is a psychological and political stance: disabled people asserting their full humanity against systems designed to shrink them into charity objects or tragedy narratives. This means rejecting inspiration narratives that praise disabled people for ordinary activities, opposing pity-based fundraising, and demanding representation as complex, flawed, full human beings. It means disabled people refusing shame and claiming joy, sexuality, ambition, and error as their right. Sor Juana's fierce intellectual independence models this refusal—a commitment to self-definition that disability rights movements must nurture and protect.