The Intersection of Gender, Power, and Knowledge

Sor Juana's exclusion from university, her confinement to a convent, and the eventual suppression of her work all stemmed from a system that linked maleness to intellectual authority. Power holders maintained their position partly by controlling who could learn, think, and speak publicly. Sor Juana exposed this intersection—she could not claim rights as a knower because she was a woman, and her womanhood justified her exclusion from the institutions that would have secured her status as a knower. This concept, drawn from her lived experience, shows that gender-based injustice operates through control of knowledge and credibility. Fair societies must recognize that sexism, racism, and other hierarchies are maintained through epistemic structures—determining who gets to think, teach, publish, and be believed. Sor Juana's work demonstrates that achieving fairness requires not only changing laws but transforming who has access to education, whose ideas are taken seriously, and who holds authority in knowledge-producing institutions. Justice is impossible when power and knowledge are monopolized by one group.