Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

Sor Juana Ines de la CruzWikipedia    Imagine being born in a world where women are seen as nothing else as than to produce life. That is exactly what Sor Juana ines de la Cruz fought against in a misogynistic society that developed the ideal of Marianismo. She was the first woman to fight against her rights to education and became known as the last outstanding writer of the Latin American Period and of the Hispanic Baroque. Her inspiring quote, “Who has forbidden women to engage in private and individual studies? Have they not a rational soul as men do?...I have this inclination to study and if it is evil, I am not the one who formed me thus - I was born with it and with it I shall die,” is a summation of what makes her my hero.

     During the 17th century, Mexico had been a Spanish colony for over a century, which influenced their complex and stratified class systems. It was the Roman Catholics at that time that shaped social attitudes about women’s social role that emphasized women as nurturers of the family, leading to the ideal of Marianismo. Sor Juana ines de la Cruz was one of the many women that fought for her rights to education and became known as the last outstanding writer of the Latin American Period and of the Hispanic Baroque. She was granted lifelong names such as “the tenth muse,” “The Phoenix of America” and the “Mexican Phoenix.”

     Juana inés de la Cruz was born on November 12, 1651 in San Miguel Nepantla, Mexico, out of wedlock to a Spanish captain, who left early on, and her mother, Dona Isabel. Dona Isabel was left to take care of her three daughters along with the help of her parents, who were part of Mexico’s most esteemed class. Despite the misogyny along with her illiteracy at that time, Dona was able to manage one of her father’s two estates. This precedent inspired Juana’s lifelong confidence and will. At a young age, she secretly followed one of her sisters to school and learnt that higher education was only accessible to men, so she begged her mother to attend as a man, to which her mother rejected. However, Juana found her grandfather’s private library, and there she taught herself philosophical debate, Latin, and a language only known to the Aztecs, Nahuatl. Her intelligence was spread throughout the city and even attracted the attention of the viceroy, Antonnio Sebastian de Toledo, marquis de Mancera. At 16 years old, he took her in as a lady in waiting and tested her knowledge by 40 scholars who asked her the most complex equations and philosophical queries to which she passed with ease. Many of her poems and plays were about men emphasizing their responsibility for immortality and double sexist standards, which brought conflict towards her benefactors. Despite her controversies, she inspired many people and numerous proposals, but Juana was more interested in knowledge than in men. In a patriarchal society at that time, there was only one place she could find knowledge while remaining respectful and unmarried: the hieronymite convent of Santa Paula, where she took on a new name as Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

     At 20 years old, she was known as Santa Paula’s most prized treasure of the church for her plays, dramas, poems, and philosophies, and she protected the livelihoods of her sisters against those who tried to exploit them. In 1960, a bishop published Juana’s private critique of a respected sermon and told her to give herself up to prayer rather than debate, to which Juana replied, “God would have not given women intellect if he didn't want them to use it.” Her outspokenness had caught the attention of the conservative archbishop of Mexico and she was slowly stripped off her status, and she was forced to give up writing and sell her books. However, Sor Juana was unwilling to leave the church and hence she renewed her vows with her own blood stating, “I, Sor Juana, worst of all.” Sor Juana gave up her studies and devoted herself to taking care of others. However, she died in 1695 after she contracted an illness when she was taking care of one of her sisters. Today, she is known as one of the first feminists.

     Despite being born in a misogynistic society that idealized women as being under the authority of men, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz was able to break the silence and fought hard for her rights as a woman and as well as her rights to education. She was the first feminist in history that inspired many more women to fight against the double standards. Even when she sparked up many controversies, she stood her ground in order to protect and fight for women's rights, and that is why I call her a hero.