The story of Catalina de Erauso is certainly a fascinating one.  Her bold, if reckless, behaviour seems very misplaced in this time when women were so constrained in terms of what they could do, say, and look like; growing up in a convent, these constraints would have been even more prominent.  Yet somehow, despite growing up here, where strict rules would have been in place, prohibiting any ‘unladylike’ and wild behaviour, Catalina managed to keep her daring qualities and make use of them upon running away from the convent.  This begs the question: was Catalina always a mischievous person?  Did she hide this element of her personality, keeping it in check, or was she always a bit of a risk-taker and trouble-maker at the convent?  It is not easy to be rebellious in the presence of nuns – just hearing stories from my grandparents, who were taught by nuns, gives me the impression that any misconduct was difficult to get away with.  For instance, rather than correct the nuns who said his name incorrectly for years, my grandfather changed his name!  Meanwhile, my grandmother, who went to a Catholic boarding school, had to adhere to strict mealtime rules; for example, the only way to leave the table was if your plate was empty.  This made leaving the table when large portions of distasteful food were served very difficult, and the only way my Nana managed it was to stuff food in her dress and throw it out in the river or forest around the school.  Of course this was hard to do, and if found out, punishments were harsh.  Clearly, if Catalina was to develop her bold personality in a convent, she must have been pretty skilled at keeping it hidden.

Unrestrained by common societal and Christian perceptions against transgender and other non-heterosexual orientations, Catalina was ahead of her time in her transformation to become a man.  This would have been highly controversial at the time, and she must have been very confident and courageous to carry through such a thing.  I wonder where Catalina got the idea to transgender – the convent does not seem like the sort of place where you could learn about such things; thus, I believe Catalina was a very resourceful person who could work with various situations to suit her needs.  I also wonder if Catalina changed gender more out of necessity (to remain invisible to those searching for her after running away), or if she had always had this idea in mind, if she always wanted to live the life of a man.  Regardless of why or how, Catalina successfully lived as a man, embarking on many interesting adventures; her story is very inspirational to those who live a bit differently from the societal norm.