Temporal Sovereignty of the Body

Sor Juana fiercely guarded her time for intellectual work despite enormous pressure to use her body and hours for service, teaching, and prayer. She understood that control over time was control over her bodily existence. Temporal sovereignty means claiming the right to structure your days according to your own priorities rather than others' demands. This is inseparable from body as identity: when your time is colonized by others' needs, your body is colonized. You move through space at others' pace, perform labor at their schedule, remain available on their terms. Reclaiming temporal sovereignty—deciding when you sleep, work, rest, create, relate—is a radical act of bodily self-determination. This concept is particularly powerful for those in roles requiring constant availability (caregiving, service work, gendered labor) and teaches that protecting your time is protecting your physical self.