The Right to Complexity in Self-Definition

Sor Juana embodied contradictions—nun and scholar, obedient and defiant, spiritual and secular in her interests. She refused simple categorization. For disabled people, the right to complexity means rejecting both inspiration narratives and tragedy frameworks. Disability identity is not monolithic; a person can be proud of their disability while also grieving limitations, can seek accommodations while rejecting pity, can be both vulnerable and powerful. Sor Juana's legacy teaches that identity is layered and evolving. Disabled individuals deserve the freedom to define themselves inconsistently across contexts and time. This concept resists the pressure to perform disability in approved ways—either as heroic overcomer or passive victim. Instead, it protects the messy, contradictory, authentic experience of living with disability. The right to complexity honors disabled people as full human beings with multiple truths simultaneously present in their identity.