Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States

by Rita Nakashima Brock, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite

This stunning look at the global sex industry brings fresh analysis and new approaches to the baffling and complex issues that surround prostitution. Religion and society have both cast stones at prostitutes, seeing them as archetypal sinners and blaming them for their situation. Brock and Thistlethwaite, after many years of research, travel, and interviews, offer this cross-cultural study. They compare and highlight structures that sustain prostitution as a global system of exploitation of the most vulnerable in the United States as well as Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. This structural analysis is then submitted to a theological critique of doctrines of sin and karma, the traditional rubrics under which religion (in this instance, Christianity and Buddhism) has considered prostitution. The heart of their project is rethinking the deeper cultural and religious notions of sexuality, power, and violence that undergird sexual exploitation. New approaches to prostitution through religious and social change are proposed. Brock and Thistlethwaite make the case to all persons of conscience that prostitution is a serious social justice issue, and they suggest modes of analysis and practical ways to make a difference. They demand each reader to ask, "Who am I to cast the first stone?"

Genres: Asia, Nonfiction

392 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 1996

About the author

Rita Nakashima Brock is a theologian and co-author with Rebecca Ann Parker of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us (Beacon Press, 2001) and Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire (Beacon Press, 2008). Brock is currently a director of Faith Voices for the Common Good.

Reviews

[Olivia Chiancone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe I’m the first person to write a Goodreads review for this book! This book was AMAZING!! It talked about the societal and religious factors playing a role in prostitution in the US and various Asian countries. Specifically how prevalent prostitution is near military bases and the role hypermasculinity plays in this. This book goes to some dark places (as would be expected), the craziest thing I learned was that the majority of people who use child prostitutes find prostitutes the same age as THEIR children. This book also introduces possible solutions to prostitution, specifically decriminalization instead of legalization (bc legalization would just make the government another pimp).