The Right to Solitude as Bodily Autonomy

Sor Juana's negotiation for time alone—a radical demand for a woman in her era—established solitude as a prerequisite for authentic selfhood. Her body needed to be present to herself, not constantly available for service or surveillance. This concept recognizes that bodily identity requires temporal and spatial sovereignty: moments when one's physical self answers only to oneself. Forced sociability, constant obligation, and the absence of boundaries fragment body-identity by making the self perpetually responsive to others' demands. Sor Juana understood that genuine physical self-concept emerges only when the body can withdraw, rest, and exist without external justification. In contemporary life, this means defending solitude from productivity culture and relational demands. The right to be alone with one's body—to think, feel, and simply exist—becomes foundational to knowing and respecting oneself physically.