So a few months ago my flatmate started watching this mini-series on Netflix called “Juana Inés,” about a badass babe from San Miguel Nepantia, New Spain, with a serious flair for poetry and a habit for calling misogynistic men OUT.
Imagine my glee when I turned to Google and found out this gritty character was a real person. YESSSSSSSSSS. Juana Inés de la Cruz went through the wars to come out with dozens of writings/books/poetry touching upon love, justice and feminism.
BASICALLY, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
She used to hide in the Hacienda chapel to read her grandfather's books even though it was forbidden for girls.
By five she could do accounts.
By 13 she taught Latin to young children.
At 12 she went to Mexico City to be a lady in waiting at the colonial viceroy's court.
Here she schooled everyone who challenged her intelligence, including a big ol’ gang of men (theologians, jurists, philosophers, and poets) who wished to question her on the spot.
Of course, she whipped them all.
She eventually became a nun so she could study.
Despite criticism of her writings, she continued to be AWESOME until her death.
Her poetry in general is hot stuff. Get this woman on your reading list and no doubt she’ll immediately be on your list of role models.
“You batter her resistance down
and then, all righteousness, proclaim
that feminine frivolity,
not your persistence, is to blame.”