The Politics of Visibility and Invisibility

Sor Juana lived in public scrutiny: as a woman in intellectual spaces, as a nun under ecclesiastical authority, as a writer whose work was examined for doctrinal correctness. Yet she was also invisible—her gender excluded her from formal academic institutions, her religious status limited her public movement. The chronically ill navigate similar contradictions. They are hypervisible when ill—constantly questioned about their diagnosis, their symptoms, their limitations, their 'real' experience. Yet they are also invisible: erased from workplaces, absent from social gatherings, excluded from conversations about the future, forgotten in planning and policy. This concept names that paradox and examines its psychological toll. Sor Juana's response was strategic: she wrote, creating a permanent record that demanded recognition. For the chronically ill, visibility might come through narrative, community, artistic expression, or advocacy—ways of being seen and heard that transcend physical presence and social accessibility.