Sheila Jeffreys

Sheila Jeffreys is Associate Professor in the Dept of Political Science at the University of Melbourne.

She teaches sexual politics, international feminist politics and lesbian and gay politics.

Born in 1948 into a working-class family from the East End of London (though her parents were based at an army camp in Munster at the time) Jeffreys describes herself as a product of the postwar sexual revolution.

She considers it her "duty" to be liberated and progressive. She has written five books including Anticlimax: A Feminist Perspective On The Sexual Revolution (1990), in which she argues that newly-achieved and much-vaunted sexual freedom does not constitute any real gain for women, but continues their oppression in another guise.

Her books have a common theme. As Jeffreys puts it, "Male supremacy is centered on the act of sexual intercourse, justified by heterosexual practice." For her, heterosexual sex is sexual desire that eroticises power differences. Lesbian and gay sexual practices do not escape her scrutiny. Two of her books, The Lesbian Heresy (1993) and Unpacking Queer Politics (2003), focus on how "queer" sexual politics have led to oppressed sexual minorities embracing any kind of sex, such as sadomasochism, in the name of liberation.

Return to More4 Personalities homepage

Can't see the video? You will need Windows Media Player to watch these clips. Download here