Epistemic Justice and Your Own Knowledge

Sor Juana's contemporaries dismissed her intellectual contributions and credibility based on gender. Epistemic injustice—being denied status as a knower—silences lived experience. For adopted people, epistemic justice means your understanding of your own identity, your feelings about adoption, your questions about origins, and your sense of belonging all count as valid knowledge. Others—adoptive parents, adoption professionals, or society—may hold different narratives, but their authority does not erase yours. Sor Juana reclaimed her epistemic authority by writing, arguing, and insisting on her right to interpret her own experience. This concept invites adopted individuals to trust their own witness about what adoption means to them, to resist gaslighting that dismisses their feelings, and to demand that their interpretations of their identity be recognized as legitimate knowledge rather than wounds to be healed or problems to solve.