Identity Rights and Consumer Ethics

Sor Juana fought against systems that attempted to define her identity and limit her possibilities based on gender, colonial status, and religious authority. Her legacy illuminates how consumption implicates identity—both our own and others'. When we purchase, we participate in systems that either respect or violate the identity rights of producers and communities. Do the products we buy support indigenous communities' self-determination or exploit their resources and knowledge? Do they honor workers' dignity as full persons or reduce them to invisible labor costs? Do they respect cultural ownership or appropriate sacred or traditional practices? Ethical consumption from Sor Juana's tradition means choosing products and companies that recognize people as rights-bearing subjects with autonomy, dignity, and cultural integrity. It means refusing to participate in systems that define others—whether workers, artisans, or indigenous peoples—as mere resources to be extracted. This is consumption as recognition of shared humanity and mutual rights.