The practice of saying no—to imposed identities, expected silence, limiting categories, and demands for assimilation—as a fundamental expression of agency and truth-telling.
Sor Juana refused numerous prescriptions: she refused the expectation that women should be intellectually passive, refused to renounce her work when pressured, refused to accept narrow definitions of piety and womanhood. Her refusals were not merely personal rebellions but intellectual acts rooted in principle. In intersectional practice, refusal is a crucial tool often underestimated in dominant frameworks that emphasize positivity and solutions. Refusal means declining to internalize oppressive definitions, rejecting false choices, and withdrawing consent from systems that devalue you. It can take many forms: refusing respectability politics, refusing assimilation, refusing to educate those not genuinely open to learning, refusing to absorb blame for systemic failures. Refusal creates space for alternative possibilities and protects psychic and intellectual freedom. Sor Juana's example shows that refusal, especially from those with partial privilege and platform, can disrupt systems and create openings for others. Practicing strategic refusal—knowing what we will not accept, tolerate, or do—is central to intersectional integrity and collective liberation.
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