Table Of Content“ Written in clear and trenchant prose with a decent dose of the
author’s great sense of irony, Sheila Jeffreys’ Trigger Warning is an
autobiography of intellectual honesty and political courage. Reading
this book provides a whole education in lesbian feminism through the
eyes and life of one of our leading scholar-activists.”
— Janice G. Raymond, author of A Passion for Friends, Women as
Wombs and Not a Choice, Not a Job
“ From the sleepy Maltese village of her childhood to the wild beauty of
Australian Christmases among the sand dunes, via the ferment of the
Women’s Liberation Movement and back again, Sheila Jeffreys takes
you on an exhilarating journey through a lesbian feminist life where
the personal has been truly political. One of the world’s most important
and influential radical feminist thinkers, Jeffreys now reveals herself
to be a gifted, thoroughly engaging and sometimes quite hilarious
storyteller. No trigger warning from me, rather the ‘Oyez, oyez!’ of the
town crier – women, read this book and re-imagine what is possible!”
— Julia Long, author of Anti-Porn: The Resurgence of Anti-
Pornography Feminism and lesbian feminist scholar and activist
“ With this engaging, authentic autobiography, Sheila Jeffreys takes us
on an extraordinary ride through the ups and downs, the successes
and frustrations, of her life as a revolutionary feminist. Have no doubt
that her voice will resonate through feminist history for decades to
come.”
— Betty McLellan, author of Beyond PsychOppression, Unspeakable
and Ann Hannah
“ Sheila Jeffreys’ generosity in sharing entertaining personal anecdotes
and insights was always a hallmark of her teaching at The University
of Melbourne and is fondly remembered by many students. It is
wonderful to see so many of these stories reproduced in print.
A powerful reminder, not only that the personal is political, but that
the political is personal.”
— Meagan Tyler, co-editor of Freedom Fallacy and contributor to
Big Porn Inc and Prostitution Narratives
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 11 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
“ Trigger Warning with its inherent double entendre of having one’s
radical feminism treated as a threat while the reality of women’s life
stories reveals its power to restore women to their own lives is what
Sheila Jeffreys gives us in her own life story. No better use can be
found of the personal is political.”
— Kathleen Barry, author of Female Sexual Slavery, The Prostitution
of Sexuality and Unmaking War, Remaking Men
“S heila Jeffreys’ Trigger Warning impresses with the connections
between radical feminism, lesbian activism and the many facets of
men’s violence against women. Her courageous position on topics
relevant to feminist and lesbian politics elevates her to a role model
for opposing liberalism and harms minimisation which are destroying
feminism.”
— Anita Heiliger, author of Sexuelle Gewalt: Männliche
Sozialisation und potentielle Täterschaft, founder of KOFRA
(Kommunikationszentrum für Frauen) in Munich, and organiser
of the first Abolitionist Congress in Germany (2014)
“ Trigger Warning: My Lesbian Feminist Life is a compelling account of
Sheila Jeffreys’ heroic service in the revolutionary feminist movement.
This is the story of a life powered by ideas, which means a life filled
with adversity, exhilaration, and the most profound setbacks. The
book is a treasure because it accurately describes the evolution of
feminist thought in her time. Future generations can rely upon it.
It is bound to inspire them. Brava, Sheila, Brava!”
— Phyllis Chesler, author of Women and Madness, Woman’s
Inhumanity to Woman and A Politically Incorrect Feminist
“ This is a wonderful account of activism over the last 50 or more years
that puts the struggles for women’s liberation into perspective and
provides information to many younger women of the background of
current arguments about sex versus so-called gender.”
— Linda Bellos OBE, socialist, lesbian separatist, campaigner
for the rights of women and black political activist
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 22 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
n
o
utt
H
e
n
ai
El
dit:
e
cr
o
ot
h
P
Sheila Jeffreys is a radical feminist activist who has worked mainly
against male violence and for lesbian feminism. She joined her
first Women’s Liberation Movement group in the UK in 1973 and
became a lesbian in 1977. In 1991, she moved to Australia to teach
at the University of Melbourne, and retired back to the UK in
2015. She is the author of ten books on issues such as the history of
sexuality, lesbian feminism, prostitution, gay men’s politics, beauty
practices, the threat of patriarchal religion to women’s rights,
and the politics of transgenderism. Her most recent book is: The
Lesbian Revolution: Lesbian Feminism in the UK 1970–1990 (2018).
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 33 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 44 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
TRIGGER
WARNING
My Lesbian Feminist Life
SHEILA JEFFREYS
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 55 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
First published by Spinifex Press, 2020
Spinifex Press Pty Ltd
PO Box 5270, North Geelong, VIC 3215, Australia
PO Box 105, Mission Beach, QLD 4852, Australia
[email protected]
www.spinifexpress.com.au
Copyright © Sheila Jeffreys
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright
reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise) without prior written permission of both
the copyright owner and the above publisher of the book.
Copying for educational purposes
Information in this book may be reproduced in whole or part for
study or training purposes, subject to acknowledgement of the source
and providing no commercial usage or sale of material occurs.
Where copies of part or whole of the book are made under part VB
of the Copyright Act, the law requires that prescribed procedures
be followed. For information contact the Copyright Agency Limited.
Edited by Renate Klein and Pauline Hopkins
Cover design by Deb Snibson, MAPG
Typesetting by Helen Christie, Blue Wren Books
Typeset in Minion Pro
Printed by McPherson’s Printing Group
A catalogue record for this
book is available from the
National Library of Australia
ISBN: 9781925950205 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781925950212 (ebook: epub)
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 66 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
This book is dedicated to Ann Rowett
whose love and companionship have sustained me
through more than three decades of my life
in the UK and Australia.
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 77 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 88 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 | Origins 7
Chapter 2 | Finding Feminism: The 1970s 39
Chapter 3 | Choosing to Be a Lesbian 67
Chapter 4 | Changing Sexuality 95
Chapter 5 | The End of a Dream 125
Chapter 6 | Australia 153
Chapter 7 | The Doldrums 185
Chapter 8 | Back to the Struggle 217
Acknowledgements 233
Other Books by Sheila Jeffreys 235
ix
TTWW__TTeexxtt__77pppp..iinndddd 99 99//66//2200 99::0077 aamm
