The Right to Study Anything

Sor Juana studied theology, philosophy, science, mathematics, rhetoric, and music—domains often restricted to men and clergy. Her insistence that curiosity and intellect know no gender boundaries became her most radical claim. This concept examines how cisgender identity involves gendered restriction of intellectual and professional domains. Cisgender women have historically been discouraged from mathematics, engineering, philosophy, theology, and strategic domains. Cisgender men have been discouraged from humanities, caregiving, emotional intelligence, and relational work. These restrictions are not based on actual cognitive capacity but on maintaining gendered labor divisions and power hierarchies. For cisgender individuals to claim full intellectual freedom, this concept proposes: What domains have you been discouraged from studying or pursuing because of your gender? What expertise have you assumed belongs to people of other genders? What would happen if you pursued knowledge across all domains with equal legitimacy? This concept asserts that intellectual freedom is a human right, not a gendered privilege. It challenges the assumption that certain knowledge belongs to certain genders and invites individuals to reclaim curiosity as a fundamental expression of human dignity.