The Right to Refuse Coercive Duty

Sor Juana entered a convent partly to escape forced marriage and gain intellectual space, but even there she faced mounting pressure to abandon writing and scholarship in favor of obedience and prayer. She ultimately refused the demand to renounce her intellectual life, asserting that coerced duties contradict human dignity and freedom. In Libertarian justice, this principle means no institution—religious, governmental, or familial—may impose binding obligations without genuine consent. The right to refuse applies equally to women's unpaid domestic labor, military conscription, and mandatory civic service. Sor Juana's refusal to sacrifice her identity for institutional demands prefigures modern libertarian arguments against conscription and coercive social roles. This concept protects individuals from being treated as property or resources to be disposed of according to others' designs, centering on the right to choose one's commitments.