The Right to Self-Definition

Sor Juana's defense of her own intellectual identity—as scholar, writer, and thinker—against those who insisted she conform to prescribed feminine roles exemplifies the decolonial insistence on self-definition. Colonialism operates through the imposition of identity categories that serve colonial interests: the colonized are named, classified, and assigned roles by colonizers. Postcolonial identity requires rejecting these imposed definitions and reclaiming the power to articulate who one is. Sor Juana's writings refuse the binary of obedient nun or transgressive woman, instead claiming a more complex identity as intellectual and creator. For decolonization, this principle extends to communities reclaiming indigenous names, histories, and self-representations against colonial archives and narratives. The right to self-definition becomes foundational to dignity and epistemic justice.