Prof. Sheila Jeffreys
Professor Sheila Jeffreys
Background
I write and teach in the areas of sexual politics, international gender politics and lesbian and gay politics. I have written five books on the history and politics of sexuality. I am originally from the UK and came to the University of Melbourne in 1991. I have been actively involved in feminist and lesbian feminist politics, particularly around the issue of sexual violence, since 1973. I am the public officer of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia and on the board of Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Asia Pacific.
Research
My most recent book is The Industrial Vagina (Routledge 2009), which examines the industrialization and globalization of the sex industry. My previous book, Beauty and Mysogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West (Routledge 2005) argues that western beauty practices such as makeup, high heel shoes, cosmetic surgery, should be included in UN understandings of harmful cultural practices.
Subjects Taught
- Sexual Politics (2nd year)
- International Gender Politics (3rd Year)
- Women in Global Politics (MA International Politics)
Supervision
I supervise PHD and Honours and MA students in all of the areas mentioned above. PHD topics that I supervise or have supervised include work on lesbian identity, prostitution in Victoria, feminism and animal liberation, women and the League of Nations, the construction of female sexuality, sexism in outdoor advertising, the international sex industry, lesbian community. Honours and MA topics have included the outsourcing of domestic work, stalking as a human rights violation, intersexuality, prostitution, trafficking, reproductive technology, arranged marriage, transgenderism.
Recent Publications
Books
The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of The Global Sex Trade. London: Routledge 2009.
Beauty and Misogyny. Harmful Cultural Practices in the West, London and New York: Psychology Press, Brunner/Routledge (forthcoming).
Unpacking Queer Politics. A Lesbian Feminist Perspective, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004).
The Idea of Prostitution, (Melbourne: Spinifex Press, 1997).
Book Chapters
Jeffreys, Sheila 2008: 'Body modification as self mutilation by proxy.' In Hearn, Jeff and Burr, Viv (eds.), Sex, Violence and the Body: The Erotics of Wounding. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Jeffreys, Sheila 2006: 'The Traffic in Women: Human Rights Violation or Migration for Work?' In Agrawal, Anuja (ed.). Migrant Woment and Work. New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, California, London: Sage Publications. 194-217.
'Prostitution as a Harmful Cultural Practice'. In Chris Stark and Rebecca Whisnant (eds.), Not for Sale, Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex Press, 2004.
'Western Concepts of Gender and Prostitution as Obstacles to Ending the International Traffic in Women'. In Bird, Delys, Were, Wendy and White, Terri-Ann (eds.), Future Imaginings: Sexualities and Genders in the New Millennium, Perth: University of Western Australia Press.
'Die Erotik der (Un)Gleichheit' (The eroticism of (in)equality), in Alice Schwarzer (ed.), Man Wird Nicht Als Frau Geboren, (Cologne: Kiepenheuer and Witsch, 2000), pp. 57-70.
Journal Articles
Jeffreys, Sheila 2008: 'Disability and the Male Sex Right'. Women's Studies International Forum. Vol. 31, Issue 5. pp. 327-335.
Jeffreys, Sheila 2008: 'They Know It When They See It: The UK Gender Recognition Act 2004'. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 10 (2), pp. 328-345.
Jeffreys, Sheila 2008: 'Keeping women down and out: the strip club boom and the reinforcement of male dominance', Signs. A journal of women in culture and society, Vol. 34, No. 1 pp. 151-173.
Jeffreys, Sheila 2006: 'Judicial Child Abuse: The family court of Australia, gender identity disorder, and the "Alex" case', Women's Studies International Forum, 29. pp. 1-12.
Jeffreys, Sheila 2006: 'Making abuse visible. Combating the normalization of prostitution', Moderna Sprak. August, pp 64-82.
Jeffreys, Sheila: 'Sex Tourism: Do Women Do it Too?', Leisure Studies 22 (July), 223-238.
Winter, Bronwyn, Thompson, Denise and Jeffreys, Sheila, 'The UN Approach to Harmful Traditional Practices: Some Conceptual Problems', International Feminist Journal of Politics 4:1 (April), pp. 72-94.
'Challenging the child/adult distinction in theory and practice on prostitution', International Feminist Journal of Politics. 2:3 (2000), pp. 359-379.
'"Body art" and social status: cutting, tattooing and piercing from a feminist perspective', Feminism and Psychology. 10 (2000), pp. 409-429.
'Bisexual politics: a superior form of feminism', Women's Studies International Forum. 22 (1999), pp. 273-285.
'Globalizing sexual exploitation: sex tourism and the traffic in women', Leisure Studies, 18 (1999), pp. 179-196.