Sheila Jeffreys (born 13 May 1948) is a former professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, born in England. A

lesbian feminist Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logica ...

scholar, she analyses the history and politics of

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. Jeffreys' argument that the "

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...

" on men's terms contributed less to women's freedom than to their continued oppression has both commanded respect and attracted intense criticism. She argues that women suffering pain in pursuit of beauty is a form of submission to

patriarchal Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of Dominance hierarchy, dominance and Social privilege, privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical Anthropology, anthropological term for families or clans controll ...

sadism, that

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people reproduce oppressive

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

s and mutilate their bodies through

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...

, and that

lesbian culture LGBT culture is a culture shared by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. It is sometimes referred to as queer culture (indicating people who are queer), while the term gay culture may be used to mean "LGBT culture" or t ...

has been negatively affected by emulating the sexist influence of the gay male subculture of dominant/submissive sexuality. She is the author of several books about

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

feminist history Feminist history refers to the re-reading of history from a woman’s perspective. It is not the same as the history of feminism, which outlines the origins and evolution of the feminist movement. It also differs from women's history, which ...

, including ''The Spinster and Her Enemies'' (1985), ''The Sexuality Debates'' (1987), ''Anticlimax'' (1990), ''Unpacking Queer Politics'' (2003), ''Beauty and Misogyny'' (2005), and ''Gender Hurts'' (2014).

Early life

Jeffreys was born to a working-class army family from London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. After attending an all-girls

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, she studied at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, then taught at a girls' boarding school. In 1973,

Julie Bindel Julie Bindel (born 20 July 1962) is an English radical feminist writer. She is also co-founder of the law reform group Justice for Women, which has aimed to help women who have been prosecuted for assaulting or killing violent male partners. A ...

writes, Jeffreys decided "to abandon both heterosexuality and her feminine appearance". Jeffreys wrote in ''Beauty and Misogyny'' (2005):

Works

In 1979, Jeffreys helped write ''Love Your Enemy? The Debate Between Heterosexual Feminism and Political Lesbianism'', along with other members of the

Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group The Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group was a feminist organisation active in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s. While there were a number of contemporary revolutionary feminist organisations in the UK, the Leeds group was 'internation ...

. Its authors stated, "We do think ... that all feminists can and should be lesbians. Our definition of a political lesbian is a woman-identified woman who does not fuck men. It does not mean compulsory sexual activity with women." Jeffreys was one of several contributors to ''The Sexual Dynamics of History: Men's Power, Women's Resistance'', an anthology of feminist writings about gender relations published in 1983 by the London Feminist History Group. Jeffreys wrote the chapter on "Sex reform and anti-feminism in the 1920s". In ''The Spinster and Her Enemies: Feminism and Sexuality 1880–1930'', published in 1985, Jeffreys examines feminist involvement in the Social Purity movement at the turn of the century. In her 1990 work ''Anticlimax: A Feminist Perspective on the Sexual Revolution'', Jeffreys offered a critique of the

of the 1960s. ''The Lesbian Heresy'' was published in 1993. In it Jeffreys criticises

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

practices involving women. One author involved in sadomasochism cites Jeffreys' views in this book as an example of the "simplistic and dualistic thinking" among anti-sadomasochism campaigners. Jeffreys describes sadomasochism as "

male supremacist Supremacism is the belief that a certain group of people is superior to all others. The supposed superior people can be defined by age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, social class, ideology, nation, cultu ...

", a reenactment of heterosexual male dominance and women's oppression that glorifies violence and uses women's bodies as a sex aid, and as anti-lesbian and

fascistic Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

. The author claims that Jeffreys ignores that some heterosexual women may enjoy sadomasochistic activity, and that "

tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

" may be women who work hard to give their " bottoms" pleasure, rather than the passive recipients of sex in the way she describes.Preview
/ref> '' The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade'' was published in 2009. In it, Jeffreys describes the globalisation of the sex market, and calls marriage a form of prostitution. Jeffreys writes, "the right of men to women's bodies for sexual use has not gone, but remains an assumption at the basis of heterosexual relationships", and draws links between marriage and prostitution, such as mail-order brides, which she sees as a form of

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

Views on gender

The

, Jeffreys' employer until her retirement in May 2015, listed her areas of expertise as: In an interview, the writer

explains that Jeffreys believes

"is an extension of the beauty industry offering cosmetic solutions to deeper rooted problems" and that in a society without gender this would be unnecessary. Jeffreys has presented these views in various forums. In a 1997 article in the ''Journal of Lesbian Studies'', for example, Jeffreys contended that "transsexualism should be seen as a violation of human rights." Jeffreys also argued that "the vast majority of transsexuals still subscribe to the traditional stereotype of women" and that by transitioning medically and socially,

trans women A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

are "constructing a conservative fantasy of what women should be. They are inventing an

essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...

of womanhood which is deeply insulting and restrictive."Pdf.
/ref> Jeffreys' opinions on these topics have been challenged by transgender activists.

Roz Kaveney Roz Kaveney (born 9 July 1949) is a British writer, critic, and poet, best known for her critical works about pop culture and for being a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. Kaveney's works include fiction and non-fiction, poetry, rev ...

, a trans woman and critic of Jeffreys, wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that Jeffreys and

radical feminists Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...

who share her views are "acting like a

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

." Kaveney compared Jeffreys' desire to ban sex reassignment surgery to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's desire to ban abortion, arguing that both proposals bear negative "implications for all women." Kaveney also criticised Jeffreys and her supporters for alleged "

anti-intellectualism Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, and science as impractical, politically ...

, emphasis on

innate knowledge Innatism is a philosophical and epistemological doctrine that the mind is born with ideas, knowledge, and beliefs. Therefore, the mind is not a ''tabula rasa'' (blank slate) at birth, which contrasts with the views of early empiricists such as ...

, fetishisation of tiny ideological differences,

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

hunting,

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

, rhetorical use of images of disgust, talk of stabs in the back and romantic apocalypticism." ''Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism'', a book cowritten by Jeffreys and Lorene Gottschalk, was published in April 2014. Timothy Laurie argued that the formalisation of social dynamics between men and women in ''Gender Hurts'' in terms of "strategies' and dividends" risks "confusing the continued existence of unequal economic exchanges (well documented by R.W. Connell) with the less predictable, but equally important, struggles over what gets labelled 'masculine' and 'feminine' and for what collective purposes". In May 2014, the philosopher

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...

commented on Jeffreys' view that sex reassignment surgery is directly political. To Jeffreys' notion that reassignment surgery is a component of patriarchal control, Butler responded that "One problem with that view of social construction is that it suggests that what trans people feel about what their gender is, and should be, is itself 'constructed' and, therefore, not real. And then the feminist police comes along". Jeffreys stated in a 2014

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Radio " Sunday Night Safran" program that transsexual women are either "homosexual men who don’t feel they can be homosexual in the bodies of men" or "heterosexual men who have a sexual interest in wearing women’s clothes and having the appearance of women", provoking criticism from members of the trans community for

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

Julia Serano Julia Michelle Serano (; born 1967) is an American writer, musician, spoken-word performer, trans– bi activist, and biologist. She is known for her transfeminist books ''Whipping Girl'' (2007), ''Excluded'' (2013), and ''Outspoken'' (2016). Sh ...

has written that Sheila Jeffreys was an early feminist adopter of

Ray Blanchard Ray Milton Blanchard ( ; born October 9, 1945) is an American-Canadian sexologist, best known for his research studies on transsexualism, pedophilia and sexual orientation. He found that men with more older brothers are more likely to be gay tha ...

autogynephilia Blanchard's transsexualism typology is a proposed psychological typology of gender dysphoria, transsexualism, and fetishistic transvestism, created by sexologist Ray Blanchard through the 1980s and 1990s, building on the work of prior researchers, ...

theory. The concept of autogynephilia is used by

trans-exclusionary radical feminists TERF () is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term was originally used to distinguish trans-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are wome ...

, or "

gender critical Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely. Third-wave feminists and fourth-wave feminists tend to view the struggle for trans rights as an integral part of intersectional feminism. Former president of the American National Organization f ...

" feminists, to imply that trans women are sexually deviant men. In March 2018, addressing an audience at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in a presentation titled “Transgenderism and the Assault on Feminism.”, she said "When men claim to be women…and parasitically occupy the bodies of the oppressed, they speak for the oppressed...". Her comments were referred to as a “fascist tactic to dehumanize” trans women by the journalist

Shon Faye Shon Faye (born 27 March 1988) is an English writer, editor, journalist, and presenter, known for her commentary on LGBTQ+, women's, and mental health issues. She hosts the podcast ''Call Me Mother'' and is the author of the 2021 book '' The Tran ...

. Jeffreys co-founded the

Women's Human Rights Campaign The Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), is an advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom with presence in many other countries. The group is known for publishing a declaration on " sex-base ...

, which has been described as an

anti-trans Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

group.

Selected works

Books * * * * * * * * * * * * * Book chapters * * * * * * * * * * Essays and pamphlets * A pamphlet by

Pdf version.
* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffreys, Sheila 1948 births Living people 20th-century atheists 21st-century atheists Anti-pornography feminists Anti-prostitution feminists Atheist feminists Australian atheists Australian women academics Australian women writers Australian women's rights activists Australian feminist writers Australian political scientists British women academics British women's rights activists English atheists English feminist writers English political scientists English women non-fiction writers Feminism and transgender Historians of LGBT topics Lesbian academics Lesbian feminists Australian lesbian writers Political lesbians Radical feminists Women political scientists English emigrants to Australia LGBT rights activists from Australia LGBT rights activists from England LGBT writers from England Anti-prostitution activists in the United States University of Melbourne faculty University of Melbourne women British lesbian writers