In 1691, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz wrote her famous Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz. The letter defended women's right to study, write, and think within a colonial and religious society that punished female intellectual ambition. Its mixture of humility, irony, learning, and resistance made it a landmark of Hispanic letters.

Sor Juana's reply became a foundational text for feminist literary history in the Spanish-speaking world. Her poetry and prose influenced later Latin American writers who saw in her a brilliant voice constrained by gender, church authority, and colonial hierarchy.