Jamaica can be considered at least, a religious society, if not a Christian one. It has had the honour of being listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the highest number of churches per capita.

Church congregations are, in large measure, made up of women and the Church has a mandate to help in the wholesome development of the believers. However, the Christian Church seems to be conflicted on the nature and place of the body, particularly the female body, which has been demonized and linked to sin, especially sexual sin. Popular discussion in the media also focuses on the way that permissive cultures cheapen respect for the female body and this discussion reinforces the notion of the body as a cultural script, that cannot speak for itself but must be invested with voice(s) and meaning(s). The human body, whatever its interpretation, is crucial to our understanding of self.

This paper seeks to explore the contradictions in Christianity’s treatment of the body and how this construction of the female body constrains the participation of Jamaican women in the Christian faith. It also attempts to look at the possible components of a liberation theology of the body for the Church in Jamaica