Unpacking Queer Politics: A Lesbian Feminist Perspective - Softcover

Jeffreys, Sheila

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745628389 ISBN 13: 9780745628387

Publisher: Polity, 2003

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0745628389
• ISBN 13: 9780745628387
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184