"Carnival Strippers" and "A Room of Their Own": Silenced Stories and Responsibility in Conversation with Feminist and Womanist Theologies

This paper explores two photo collections by the feminist photographer Susan Meiselas, Carnival Strippers and A Room of Their Own, which respectively center the experiences of sex workers and domestic abuse survivors. Both photo series bring visibility to the lived experiences of women typically erased by the church. Moralizing narratives tend to structure Christian conversations around sex work or those who escape abusive relationships. These church-driven narratives lead to these women’s stories being simplified or judged without engaging in systemic analysis of the structures that contributed to their current situation. By engaging with the photos and stories of these women, with the work of feminist and womanist theologians, theorists, and ethicists, I hope to show an engagement with sex workers and domestic violence survivors that reshapes the narrative, engages with discomfort, and centers women’s voices over church authority.