For my research project, I would like to explore the life of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz. My research would include analyzing her significant poems and additional writings to examine how Cruz challenged the gender roles of her time. The reason I want to do research on her life is because her story interested me while reading our textbook, Born in Blood and Fire. A few questions I would examine include: How did Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz challenge the gender roles of her time, and how did this influence other women during her time and after? How far did the church go in making sure her voice was not heard? Did Cruz influence the social hierarchy during the 17th century? This research would help me better understand gender roles during the 17th century and how this role changed over time until the modern day.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is an extremely influential person when discussing colonial Mexico as well as the role religion played in colonization. We talked a lot about her in Colonial Latin America last semester and I may still have some of my sources on her so let me know if you want me to look for them, Professor Holt would also be very helpful in finding sources! Good luck!