The Refusal of Single-Story Reduction

Sor Juana refused to accept the single story assigned to her: the brilliant woman who should surrender intellect, the colonial subject who should accept subjugation, the nun who should renounce worldly thought. This concept, drawing on contemporary wisdom about narrative justice, recognizes that identity across cultures is continuously threatened by reduction to convenient categories. Those living between cultures face enormous pressure to represent themselves through simplified narratives that dominant groups can easily understand and control. The refusal of single-story reduction means insisting on the full complexity: acknowledging contradictions, honoring nuance, and claiming space for aspects of identity that don't fit neat boxes. Sor Juana's extensive body of work—poetry, theology, science, drama—itself constitutes a refusal. She demonstrates that authentic naming requires the courage to present one's full, complicated self rather than a sanitized version designed for others' comfort.