Sheila Joy Jeffreys - Penile Imperialism: The Male Sex Right and Womens Subordination

Few feminist critics have written more trenchantly than Sheila Jeffreys. From her first book The Spinster and Her Enemies to her most recent Penile Imperialism: The Male Sex Right and Womens Subordination, Jeffreys has always been clear that the sexual exploitation of women in all its forms is located in a male sexual rights movement that throughout history has championed and achieved the liberation of male sexuality what Jeffreys names liberating the perversions. Deepened by Jeffreys grasp of history, Penile Imperialism is a bold book that calls for a profound understanding of the reign of terror that has shaped and harmed many womens lives.

Janice Raymond, PhD, author of Doublethink: A Feminist Challenge to Transgenderism, A Passion for Friends and Women as Wombs

Sheila Jeffreys has written a sobering, devastating indeed, an exceptionally lucid book about male sexual violence and the consequent erasure of womankind. Her discussions about public sexual harassment, the increase of pornography and prostitution, and a new kind of antifeminist mens rights movement carried out by a sexually fueled and well-financed group of male transvestites flying under the banner of transgender rights is absolutely essential reading. Jeffreys chapters on pedophilia, kink, and male sexual fetishes taught me things I never knew and that are crucial for a feminist understanding of contemporary reality. Brava Sheila for having the tenacity and vision and sheer stomach-churning capacity to bring this all to our attention.

Phyllis Chesler, PhD, author of Women and Madness, A Politically Incorrect Feminist and Requiem for a Female Serial Killer

Incisive and prescient. Sheila Jeffreys attacks the entitlement of the male sex right as going above and beyond the notion of consent. She also sounds an alarm about the dangerous sanitisation of male perversions both historic and contemporary. While there is a categorical attempt at pushing misogynistic practices on women across age groups strategically ensconced under the postmodern veneer of choice and sexual liberation Penile Imperialism takes no prisoners as it lambasts all forms of sexual slavery. Jeffreys words serve both as a punch in the gut, and much-needed prophetic wisdom of the matriarch.

Vaishnavi Sundar, feminist writer, filmmaker and activist from India

Sheila Jeffreys new book is a fascinating historical journey through sexology, psychology up to the sex therapists and consent laws of today. The revelations are shocking. Women are still told that they exist to satisfy mens wishes, and that any relationship problem can be solved by appeasing the man. Jeffreys also shows how many of the politicians and lobbyists who argue for legal prostitution have vested interests in it themselves. This is Sheila Jeffreys at her best: uncompromising, well-read and always on the side of the female. Everyone should read and discuss this thoughtful book, written in a clear and easy-to-read style.

Kajsa Ekis Ekman, author of Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self and On The Meaning of Sex: Thoughts about the New Definition of Woman

For over four decades, Sheila Jeffreys has stared into the abyss and come back fighting. That abyss is the bottomless sadism of male domination, naturalized, eroticized, and institutionalized as the male sex right. The idea that men have an absolute right to access womens bodies is the genesis of their reign of sexual terror, a reign which has only grown more despotic with the political success of male sexual liberation movements. But all is not lost. With her steady intellect, stalwart loyalty to women, and keen humour, Jeffreys leads the way to liberation. Penile Imperialism is a battle cry may women everywhere heed the call.

Lierre Keith, founder of WoLF (Womens Liberation Front) and coauthor of Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It

Sheila Jeffreys has been building on her own work since 1985 and has been creating a very consistent radical feminist corpus. If we see the collection of her books as a grand enlightening symphony, penile imperialism, male domination and violence against women are one of its main motifs. In this book, the motif spirals into an astounding climax. Women who read Penile Imperialism will gain a valuable insight into how male supremacy works, and what would have to happen for it to end.

Laura Lecuona, Mexican feminist activist and author

In three simple words Sheila Jeffreys exposes the truth behind the havoc wreaked in the lives of women and children in every generation: mens sex right. In this brilliant book, Sheila reveals the role universities, the medical profession, the sex therapy industry and the justice system play in ensuring that that right is upheld even if it means the erasure of women. But younger feminists are providing strong resistance, she explains, and therein lies our hope. This is Sheila Jeffreys at her best.

Betty McLellan, PhD, feminist therapist and author of Beyond Psychopression: A Feminist Alternative Therapy and Ann Hannah, My (Un)Remarkable Grandmother: A Psychological Biography

Sheila Jeffreys provides an excellent overview of the harm caused by the mens sexual rights movement. This book documents how men are working to liberate their perversions, too often by framing them as the latest human rights cause. Whether it is dick pics, BDSM, nappy fetishism, paedophilia or transvestism, Jeffreys has it covered. Penile Imperialism shows the big picture of mens war on women. Women must work together to stop these travesties.

Anna Kerr, Principal Solicitor, Feminist Legal Clinic

Sheila Jeffreys is a radical feminist writer and activist who has worked mainly against male violence and for lesbian feminism. She joined her first Womens Liberation Movement group in the UK in 1973. In 1991, she moved to Australia to teach at the University of Melbourne where she is now a Professorial Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences. She moved back to the UK in 2015. She is the author of eleven books on issues such as the history of sexuality, lesbian feminism, prostitution, gay mens politics, beauty practices, the threat of patriarchal religion to womens rights, and the politics of transgenderism. Her most recent books are: The Lesbian Revolution: Lesbian Feminism in the UK 19701990 (2018) and Trigger Warning: My Lesbian Feminist Life (2020). She is also a Director of Womens Declaration International (WDI).

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First published by Spinifex Press, 2022

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