Access Masquerading as Merit

Sor Juana, though brilliant, had to work within the convent's limited library and resources, while privileged male scholars had access to formal education, extensive libraries, travel, and patronage networks. Yet when privileged scholars succeeded, their success was attributed to merit and brilliance—when Sor Juana succeeded despite barriers, she was sometimes framed as anomalous or the exceptional exception. Access masquerading as merit means treating differences in outcomes as if they reflect differences in ability, when they actually reflect differences in conditions. Someone who learns mathematics with a tutor, in a well-funded school, with time unencumbered by survival labor, is not naturally more gifted than someone teaching themselves in poverty—they had access. Privilege systems mistake accumulated advantage for inherent worth. This manifests in hiring decisions, college admissions, artistic opportunities, and nearly every competitive field: the children of those with resources get resources, then are called 'talented' or 'hardworking.' Acknowledging this privilege requires examining your own advantages not as evidence of merit but as conditions that enabled you. It requires crediting others' achievements against-the-odds as potentially representing greater actual ability, and resisting narratives that treat unequal starting points as meritocratic.