Rights Within Interdependence

Sor Juana, despite her intellectual brilliance, was economically and socially dependent—on patrons, the Church, institutional support. Yet she maintained her dignity and intellectual authority. This concept challenges the ableist myth that rights and dignity belong only to the independent. Chronic illness reveals what is always true: all humans are interdependent and vulnerable. Rather than shame dependence, this framework asserts that interdependence is the human condition, and rights and dignity persist within it. You have the right to need help, ask for support, and receive care without surrendering your voice, agency, or self-determination. You can be dependent and authoritative, needy and worthy, vulnerable and dignified simultaneously. This aligns with Sor Juana's implicit assertion that she could be dependent on institutions while remaining intellectually sovereign—not despite dependence but within it.