 The fact that Clarinda, probably a woman, composed and even published poetry despite widespread disdain for female writers in colonial Spanish America is typically depicted by feminist critics as a story of personal triumph via autodidacticism.Feminist critics have also endeavored to solidify the interpretation of "Discourse in Praise of Poetry" as a distinctly female voice, despite the puzzle of Clarinda's true identity.The evidence most commonly put forward in defense of Clarinda's femaleness are the notes that accompany the poem in its first publication (described above).