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Unpacking Queer Politics: A Lesbian Feminist Perspective 1st Edition

by Sheila Jeffreys (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 28 ratings
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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 men. Practices which construct this ‘manhood’, such as sadomasochism, cutting and piercing, female-to-male transsexual surgery, and which are promoted in queer politics, need to be understood as forms of self-harm which result from the oppression of lesbians and gay men. The political agenda of queer politics is damaging to the interests of lesbians, women in general, and to marginalized and vulnerable constituencies of gay men.

The book concludes by arguing that precisely the commitment to equality in relationships and sex that has been so important to lesbian feminists, and so excoriated in much of queer theory, should form the basis of a social transformation. In this way lesbians should be seen as the vanguard of social change.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0745628389
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0745628387
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Polity
  5. Publication date
    March 7, 2003
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    184 pages
Next slide of product details

Editorial Reviews

Review

'An incisive and challenging critique of queer politics, with the radical clarity of vision characteristic of Jeffreys' work. It should be required reading on all Sexuality and Gender courses.' -- Professor Celia Kitzinger, Department of Sociology, University of York

From the Inside Flap

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 men. Practices which construct this ‘manhood’, such as sadomasochism, cutting and piercing, female-to-male transsexual surgery, and which are promoted in queer politics, need to be understood as forms of self-harm which result from the oppression of lesbians and gay men. The political agenda of queer politics is damaging to the interests of lesbians, women in general, and to marginalized and vulnerable constituencies of gay men.

The book concludes by arguing that precisely the commitment to equality in relationships and sex that has been so important to lesbian feminists, and so excoriated in much of queer theory, should form the basis of a social transformation. In this way lesbians should be seen as the vanguard of social change.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Polity
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 7, 2003
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0745628389
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0745628387
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 28 ratings

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Sheila Jeffreys

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4.3 out of 5 stars
28 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Heath Russell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference Material
    Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I used this book when preparing my senior project research on the subject of transsexualism and the feminist movement. At the time, it was one of the few sources on the topic I could find. Not only did it cover the topic of transsexuals, but it also covered a myriad of other topics, including the misogyny and lesbophobia contained in queer politics. The research in the area of meaningful critiques of queer politics is certainly lacking, so it is refreshing to see it here from a lesbian feminist perspective. This is fascinating from cover to cover and I recommend this book to anybody studying gender, queer theory, and LGBT activists.
    38 people found this helpful
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  • Jennifer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unpacking Queer Politics
    Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2003
    Format: Hardcover
    Some books change the way you see the world and the way you want the future to be. Unpacking Queer Politics is such a book.
    For two decades, Queer has dominated Western ideas about lesbian and gay life. It has also affected heterosexual relations because many leading figures Queer politics are heterosexual and bisexual. It has directed women towards an appreciation of any kind of sex, in the name of liberating us from restrictions on our right to choose sexuality. And yet as the new century approached, I began to hear whispers of discontent among women; that this sexual freedom we all wanted had not quite arrived in the way we had dreamed it would. Queer politics had become a kind of commercial playground dominated by gay male and heterosexual money and interests. The only lesbians on the Queer scene seemed to be sadomasochists, masculine worshippers, or butch-femme revivalists. But as Sheila Jeffreys reveals, we really should have seen it coming. As she charts us through the 1970s and into the beginnings of Queer, it's suddenly clear that it couldn't have turned out any other way. But this book may just be powerful enough to change the course of women's sexual future away from Queer and towards a far more exciting shore.
    Jeffreys goes where most of us fear to tread. She travels through the backrooms of sex bars, into the studios of gay porn, onto the agendas of sadomasochists, and into the rooms where lesbian women and gay men women are now cutting, beating and branding themselves and each other in the name of Queer liberation. She never departs from her love of women and her commitment to our freedom. Yet she does something quite unexpected in these pages; she reaches out to gay men as well as lesbians by recognising that Queer capitalises on our dual alienation from the heterosexist world. It is this form of sex capitalism that she claims must be challenged and overthrown if we are to move once more towards creating a world in which women can become truly liberated.
    It is through the recognition of Queer politics as strongly heterosexist and therefore conservative that Jeffreys is able to offer us insight into why it has become so successful. Her research is thorough and because of this, she is able to create a convincing case for the argument that Queer promotes practices which violate the most basic human rights of women and men. It is a retrograde and homophobic politics, she argues, particularly in its support for the genital mutilation of allegedly 'masculine' women and 'feminine' men in transgender surgery. This, Jeffreys claims, is a gross violation of human rights and should be challenged as such. But as Chapter 6 reveals, some governments are now offering money for allegedly incorrect women and men to be 'corrected' under the knife. Jeffreys asks quite simply, 'why don't we do away with gender altogether?' I asked myself shortly afterwards 'how could I have studied gender and feminism for a decade and never come across that question?'
    But this is the beauty of Unpacking Queer Politics; it is simple in the way that you only find in the work of a writer who understands the whole environment in which their subject has developed - in this case, the evolution of Queer from an idea into a dominant politics and practice.
    This is a serious and very readable book. Even if you don't agree with the author's politics, this is a history of Queer that should be on the shelves of all those interested in human rights, sexual relations, human behaviour, feminism, sexual subcultures, legal approaches to lesbian or gay and transgender rights, revolutionary politics, pornography, legal concepts of privacy rights, political science, and social change.
    The late anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko said (and I paraphrase from memory), 'the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed'. I believe that Unpacking Queer Politics may just succeed in disarming Queer. It may lift from women's minds the shackles laid down by a sexual liberation movement gone terribly male. And maybe for us twenty somethings, some of the optimism of the last chapter will give us the belief that we can go up against sexual exploitation, and we can win.
    82 people found this helpful
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  • Anne R.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Important Perspective
    Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2019
    Format: Paperback
    I learned so much from this book about how the gay liberation movement stopped addressing the needs of women and how pornography became so revolting. I strongly recommend this book to heterosexual women, not just lesbians. What happened in gay male activism has affected us.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Elizabeth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
    Format: Paperback
    A brilliant feminist dismantling of the sexism in so-called "queer" politics.
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Dr. Christopher N. Kendall
    5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2006
    Format: Paperback
    This is a book that had to be written. It is intellectually first-rate, courageous and powerful. I applaud the author's gutsy and flawless analysis of the "sex as abuse as subversion as fun" farce that is now, sadly, the norm in so much lesbian and gay writing. By saying what has to be said, Jeffreys gives all those silenced by the ignorance of those who "have fun" at the expense of others a voice with which to say no. A must read for anyone who cares about justice and equality.
    48 people found this helpful
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  • Oli Fabulous
    1.0 out of 5 stars unfortunately...
    Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2005
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Jeffreys' polemical approach eclipses some of her more valid points about the failings of queer politics. True, queer politics and theory have often been dominated by white male perspectives. True, lesbian specificity ought to be a consideration in gender and sexuality studies.

    That said, if I could have given this book a lower rating I would have.

    Why, you ask? "Unpacking Queer Politics" is, at root, an amateurish yet vicious attack on transexuality (particularly FTM trans people), S/M, and various other practices and people which Ms Jeffreys deems to be in opposition to her lesbian-feminist project. This project seems to be devoted to reinstating some idea of a natural female body, a pure sexuality, and a deeply identity-based politics.

    Frankly, reading even a few pages of this book made me sick to my stomach. After having read the whole thing, however, I curled up into a ball and cried. The brute disgust and hateful rhetoric which Jeffreys deploys against trans people is illogical at best. This book has the dubious honor of being the worst I've read in recent memory.
    41 people found this helpful
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  • Molly
    1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2016
    Format: Paperback
    Extremely transphobic, calls trans women "males" and trans men "females," recycles the same transphobic arguments used since the 1970s against trans people.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Silvia
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 28, 2022
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The idea in this book is so radical ,well explained
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  • Sen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Absolute must read!
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  • DK
    4.0 out of 5 stars Unpacking Queer Politics
    Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Good.
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