foolish men
Hombres necios is a video installation conceived as an exercise in bodily self-portraiture, historical memory, and gender resistance. In this piece, my own body becomes the living canvas for a projection: the verses of «Hombres necios que acusáis a la mujer sin razón» (Foolish men who accuse women without reason), the celebrated poetic manifesto written in the 17th century by the Mexican nun and scholar Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. While the biting strength of her words traces across my back, my figure appears engulfed and consumed by fire.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz—hailed as the «Phoenix of America» and recognized as one of the continent’s earliest feminists—challenged the male monopoly on knowledge from the shadows of her convent cell. The choice of fire in this work is not merely an element of high visual impact; it is a direct reference to the systematic violence of the Inquisition that ruled her era. The stake was the ultimate destination for dissident women, «witches,» female thinkers, and those who dared to disrupt the patriarchal and ecclesiastical order. Burning a woman’s body was the definitive mechanism to silence her mind.
By projecting this Baroque poetry onto my burning body, I make it clear that the structures of oppression, the moral double standards, and the punitive judgment aimed at women do not belong to the past: they remain painfully contemporary and relevant today. In this video, fire ceases to be solely the destructive element of historical intolerance; through art, it is transformed into a pyre of transmutation. To burn alongside Sor Juana’s words is an act of persistence: the flesh may be vulnerable to the flames, but critical thought and unsubmissive language are completely fireproof.
2022
HOMBRES NECIOS
Hombres necios que acusáis a la mujer sin razón, sin ver que sois la ocasión de lo mismo que culpáis:
si con ansia sin igual solicitáis su desdén, ¿por qué queréis que obren bien si las incitáis al mal?
Combatís su resistencia y luego, con gravedad, decís que fue liviandad lo que hizo la diligencia.
Parecer quiere el denuedo de vuestro parecer loco, al niño que pone el coco y luego le tiene miedo.
Queréis, con presunción necia, hallar a la que buscáis, para pretendida, Thais, y en la posesión, Lucrecia.
¿Qué humor puede ser más raro que el que, falto de consejo, él mismo empaña el espejo, y siente que no esté claro?
Con el favor y el desdén tenéis condición igual, quejándoos, si os tratan mal, burlándoos, si os quieren bien.
Opinión ninguna gana; pues la que más se recata, si no os admite, es ingrata, y si os admite, es liviana.
Siempre tan necios andáis que, con desigual nivel, a una culpáis por cruel y a otra por fácil culpáis.
¿Pues cómo ha de estar templada la que vuestro amor pretende, si la que es ingrata, ofende, y la que es fácil, enfada?
Sin duda de vuestras fieras penas lo propio diría, que la que fuese más fría os fuera la más de veras.
Dan vuestras amantes penas a sus libertades alas, y después de hacerlas malas las queréis hallar muy buenas.
¿Cuál mayor culpa ha tenido en una pasión errada: la que cae de rogada, o el que ruega de caído?
¿O cuál es más de culpar, aunque cualquiera mal haga: la que peca por la paga, o el que paga por pecar?
Pues ¿para qué os espantáis de la culpa que tenéis? Queredlas cual las hacéis o hacedlas cual las buscáis.
Dejad de solicitar, y después, con más razón, acusaréis la afición de la que os fuere a rogar.
Bien con muchas armas fundo que lidia vuestra arrogancia, pues en promesa e instancia juntáis diablo, carne y mundo.
Original Lyrical Text (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz)
FOOLISH MEN
Foolish men who accuse women without reason, without seeing that you are the cause of the very thing you blame:
if with unequaled desire you solicit her disdain, why do you wish them to do right when you incite them to evil?
You combat her resistance and then, with gravity, you say it was looseness that achieved your diligence.
The boldness of your mad opinion seems to resemble the child who creates a monster and then fears it.
You wish, with foolish presumption, to find the one you seek: to be a Thais while wooed, and a Lucretia once possessed.
What mind could be stranger than the one which, lacking counsel, blurs the mirror itself and then complains it is not clear?
With favor and with scorn you hold the same disposition, complaining if they treat you badly, mocking if they love you well.
No opinion wins; for she who is most cautious, if she does not admit you, is ungrateful, and if she admits you, is loose.
You always walk so foolishly that, with unequal measure, you blame one for being cruel and the other you blame for being easy.
How then is she to be balanced whom your love intends, if she who is ungrateful, offends, and she who is easy, annoys?
No doubt of your fierce pains I would say the same, for she who was the coldest would be to you the most sincere.
Your lover’s sorrows give wings to their liberties, and after making them bad you wish to find them very good.
Who has held the greater guilt in a mistaken passion: she who falls when pleaded to, or he who pleads having fallen?
Or who is more to blame, though either does wrong: she who sins for pay, or he who pays to sin?
Why then are you appalled at the blame you bear? Love them as you make them or make them as you seek them.
Cease your soliciting, and then, with better reason, you will accuse the inclination of she who comes to beg you.
Well with many weapons I prove that your arrogance fights, for in promise and persistence you join devil, flesh, and world.
Officially credited to Edith Grossman (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works, Harvard University / W.W. Norton & Company).
UOMINI SCIOCCHI
Uomini sciocchi che accusate la donna senza ragione, senza vedere che siete la causa di ciò di cui la colpevolizzate:
se con ansia senza eguali sollecitate il suo disdegno, perché volete che agisca bene se la incitate al male?
Combattete la sua resistenza e poi, con gravità, dite che è stata leggerezza ciò che ha fatto la vostra insistenza.
La sfrontatezza del vostro folle parere vuol somigliare al bimbo che evoca l’uomo nero e poi ne ha paura.
Volete, con presunzione sciocca, trovare quella che cercate: nel corteggiamento, una Tais, e nel possesso, una Lucrezia.
Quale mente può essere più bizzarra di quella che, priva di senno, essa stessa appanna lo specchio e poi si lamenta se non è chiaro?
Con il favore e con il disprezzo mostrate lo stesso temperamento, lamentandovi se vi trattano male, beffandovi se vi amano bene.
Nessun giudizio vince; poiché colei che più si protegge, se non vi accetta è ingrata, e se vi accetta è leggera.
Camminate sempre così sciocchi che, con peso disuguale, l’una colpevolizzate perché crudele e l’altra colpevolizzate perché facile.
Come può dunque essere equilibrata colei che il vostro amore pretende, si la que es ingrata offende e quella che è facile annoia?
Senza dubbio dalle vostre feroci pene direi la stessa cosa: colei che fosse più fredda sarebbe per voi la più sincera.
Le vostre pene d’amore danno ali alla loro libertà, e dopo averle rese cattive le pretendete ritrovare ottime.
Chi ha avuto la colpa maggiore in una passione errata: colei che cade perché pregata, o colui che prega essendo caduto?
O chi è più da biasimare, anche se chiunque compia il male: colei che pecca per la paga, o colui che paga per peccare?
Perché dunque vi spaventate della colpa che voi stessi avete? Amatele per come le rendete o rendetele per como le cercate.
Smettetela di corteggiare, e allora, con maggior ragione, accuserete l’inclinazione di colei che vi verrà a pregare.
Con molte armi ben dimostro che combatte la vostra arroganza, poiché in promesse e insistenze unite diavolo, carne e mondo.
Text established according to the canons of Hispanic philological criticism from university chairs of Hispano-American literature