This article problematizes the usual Christian motif of rescue of sex workers that is disseminated by most faith-based groups working in the field. By focusing upon the problem of prostitution and individual rescue as the primary solution, broader relationships of accountability are neglected and complicated sex worker identifications become impossible. New strategies for thinking about human sexuality are needed that incorporate indecency as a way of questioning traditional moral representations reproduced by Christian outreach projects. In addition, three strategies are outlined (...) that could form counter-narratives for ministry and feminist theological reflection not based upon sex work as a problem to be resolved but instead carving out creative space for mutual engagement between pastoral practitioners and sex industry workers. (shrink)

The female body whether it be child or woman has in the past and in the present struggled for human equality on multiple levels. There have of course been changes but the socio-political boundaries still shift this way and that under the weight of unequal power relations between genders within the ever unfolding fields of patriarchy. Sometimes it seems there are moments of clarity of achieved equality but more often than not the reality is hidden under a pseudo agenda of (...) token offerings. This is a battle that continues within the fields of economics, politics and the language that defines the status quo of the feminine. Feminist liberation theologies as we know begin with the experience of women and as women expand their experience and education through the worlds of politics, economics in academia, the church and other institutions so does the awareness of their subjugation to heteronormative values both past and present. Art has a way of expressing something that the word cannot, this is the language of feeling and emotion. Emotions and feelings have been historically allocated materially to women as a chaotic assemblage that does not fit into the rational world of men. I argue that feminist art describes powerfully the effect patriarchal power has had over female bodies through both personal and collective experiences and that is without doubt a political matter. (shrink)