ABSTRACT
A middle-aged taxi driver muses, on learning I am a Sor Juana scholar, “Do you say she was a feminist? Or do you call it something else?” Over roaring Mexico City traffic, we agree that if a writer stands up for women and challenges unearned male privilege, why not call her feminist. He recites stanzas of “Hombres necios” (Foolish men) and says that visiting her childhood home in Amecameca, as well as her urban convent, illuminates the world that shaped her. He adds, “One more thing – was she a lesbian?” Not prurient or discounting, he wants to know: what does the research say? Taking my cue from my esteemed interlocutor of many years ago and from numerous students over time, I here consider responses to these two questions, in turn.
