Self-Naming Against Imposed Identity

Sor Juana adopted her religious name as an act of self-determination within a colonial system designed to control her identity. She used her name as both a shield and a statement—becoming 'Sister' while claiming the intellectual authority typically reserved for men. This concept explores how self-naming functions as resistance and autonomy across cultures. When colonized peoples, enslaved communities, or marginalized groups reclaim their names—whether returning to ancestral names, creating new ones, or insisting on proper pronunciation—they assert sovereignty over their own identity. The power to name oneself is the power to define one's place in the world. This becomes particularly urgent across cultures where one's given name might be mispronounced, deemed 'difficult,' or systematically changed by authority figures. Self-naming acknowledges that identity is not fixed by others but actively constructed through language, choice, and cultural connection. It transforms naming from an act of submission into an act of liberation.