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Unpacking Queer Politics: A Lesbian Feminist Perspective
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Unpacking Queer Politics argues that the strong lesbian feminist movement of the 1970s, which was able to articulate a philosophy and practice that distinguished lesbian politics from gay male politics, was submerged in the 1990s beneath a gay male agenda called queer politics.
The new politics repudiated lesbian feminist ideas and celebrated 'manhood' as a goal for gay me ...more
The new politics repudiated lesbian feminist ideas and celebrated 'manhood' as a goal for gay me ...more
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Paperback, 184 pages
Published
March 7th 2003
by Polity Press
(first published December 12th 2002)
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Showing 1-30
Oh my, transphobic, anti-BDSM, anti-porn, antisex, homophobic, and more narrow minded name calling just pours out. The grade school mud slinging and personal hate speech just shows how right Sheila Jeffreys is. Does anyone bother to really to look at how she works to undermine male hegemony? Does anyone look to her list of activist accomplishments as well as her scholarly work? She has tirelessly put herself out there while the dogmatic, knee jerks try to force her to be quiet. She is kept from
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This book perfectly articulates a lot of the aspects of modern day queer politics and postmodernism that leave me with a vaguely uncomfortable feeling. This book definitely gave me a lot to think over. Good insight how useless, and quite frankly annoying, it is to claim that political progress will somehow be achieved by people being transgressive and acting out. Judging by some of the reviews here, Jeffreys has clearly ruffled quite a few feathers, but I appreciate that she doesn't mince words.
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This book is a must read for feminists.
Jefferys work relies on "mis-citing other academics to make them look ridiculous," attributing herself as the only source for a variety of claims, engaging in transphobic rants that sound like they came out of the Westboro baptist church, accusing gay men of being racist without looking (critically or at all) at racism within lesbian communities (and given she loves Mary Daly who was called out for that fairly strongly by WOC feminists). This book represents the anti-achievement of making Transe
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Jan 07, 2014
Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!}
rated it
did not like it
Sum it up: Sex negative, transphobic (especially towards FTMs), S&M negative, porn-negative (especially towards gay-male porn), straight women appropriating the word "lesbian", and the ideal "lesbian" can only be femme. God forbid anyone be butch.
bitch, please
It was poorly researched, and was sadly written in the early 2000's.
I am so glad feminism has become more intersectional and sex positive.
The best part was my best friend writing snark in the margins.
bitch, please
It was poorly researched, and was sadly written in the early 2000's.
I am so glad feminism has become more intersectional and sex positive.
The best part was my best friend writing snark in the margins.
Aug 09, 2017
Sapphire
rated it
it was ok
Shelves:
feminism,
lesbian,
read-in-2017,
non-fiction,
lgbt-studies,
lesbian-author,
radical-feminism,
politics
I really did appreciate some things about this book. It was a brave piece of work, for its time, and was probably important for the women who read it then. However, the main reason I'm marking this book at only two stars is the sheer amount of material in it written about men. Men, men, men, men, men. The whole book, save for a couple chapters, was about men. It was actually difficult to read, given what I've come to expect from feminist literature. The literature I want in my life speaks more o
...more
I haven't agreed with all I have read here, but her points against pornography, S&M, sexual liberation, queer and gender theory, and transgenderism as well as her critique of Foucault are the reasons that motivated me to read this. I know she's critiquing things no other feminists would dare to, but it still has a long way to go.
Before starting this review, I'd like to make clear that I don't agree with the terms "straight", "gay", "lesbian" and I'd rather use "heterosexual / hom ...more
Before starting this review, I'd like to make clear that I don't agree with the terms "straight", "gay", "lesbian" and I'd rather use "heterosexual / hom ...more
Maybe four stars, I don't know.
Ugh, soooooo transphobic. Yuck.
The implications of a lot of the conclusions Jeffries reaches here make for a grim reality, but, as a professor of mine likes to ask, "what if she's right?"
Cada día estoy más convencido de que el feminismo radical es la verdadera izquierda y el único motor de cambio real en el mundo, y en la importancia de apoyar este movimiento.
Últimamente, se ha atacado a las feministas con arguentos absurdos que si la tercera ola, que si feminazis, que no son como las feministas verdaderas de antes, cuando la realidad objetiva es que las "feministas de antes" son las mismas de ahora, las radicales, las que luchan hoy por las mismas cosas por que luch ...more
Últimamente, se ha atacado a las feministas con arguentos absurdos que si la tercera ola, que si feminazis, que no son como las feministas verdaderas de antes, cuando la realidad objetiva es que las "feministas de antes" son las mismas de ahora, las radicales, las que luchan hoy por las mismas cosas por que luch ...more
Must read for feminists, particularly lesbians. Gay men should also check this side of their history, because queer theory would sell you a romantic tale about certain violent things that still afect you nowadays, things like interiorized homophobia. It's as old as feminism or any woman speaking up really that they would point that woman as dangerous and try to silence her, just ask yourself why would so much people would try to silence her, well, spoiler: because she might have a point and it t
...more
If you want a lesbian philosopher to guide you through the current queer landscape with a nuanced; truly radical and progressive outlook, then this book is for you. Viva Jeffrey’s!
Amazing book for women to discuss seriously about how queer politics (LGBT) cause damage to women and to the women's liberation movement (feminism).
One of the best books ever!!
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Sheila Jeffreys writes and teaches in the areas of sexual politics, international gender politics, and lesbian and gay politics. She has written six books on the history and politics of sexuality. Originally from the UK, Sheila moved to Melbourne in 1991 to take up a position at the University of Melbourne. She has been actively involved in feminist and lesbian feminist politics, particularly arou
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“Masculinity cannot exist without femininity. On its own, masculinity has no meaning, because it is but one half of a set of power relations. Masculinity pertains to male dominance as femininity pertains to female subordination.”
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“Fundamental to a radical and lesbian feminist politics is the understanding that 'the personal is political'. This phrase has two interrelated meanings. It means that the political power structures of the 'public' world are reflected in the private world. Thus, for women in particular, the 'private' world of heterosexuality is not a realm of personal security, a haven from a heartless world, but an intimate realm in which their work is extracted and their bodies, sexuality and emotions are constrained and exploited for the benefits of individual men and the male supremacist political system. The very concept of 'privacy' as Catharine MacKinnon so cogently expresses it, 'has shielded the place of battery, marital rape, and women's exploited labor'. But the phrase has a complementary meaning, which is that the 'public' world of male power, the world of corporations, militaries and parliaments is founded upon this private subordination. The edifice of masculine power relations, from aggressive nuclear posturing to take-over bids, is constructed on the basis of its distinctiveness from the 'feminine' sphere and based upon the world of women which nurtures and services that male power. Transformation of the public world of masculine aggression, therefore, requires transformation of the relations that take place in 'private'. Public equality cannot derive from private slavery.”
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