# Lynne Segal

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Australian-British feminist academic

Lynne Segal Born (1944-03-29) 29 March 1944 (age 82) Sydney, Australia Language English Nationality Australian and British Education University of Sydney (BA) University of Sydney (PhD) Period 1987–present Subject Psychology, gender studies, feminism Notable works Why feminism?: gender, psychology, politics. Website bbk.ac.uk/sps/our_staff/academic/lynne_segal

**Lynne Segal** (born 29 March 1944)[1] is an Australian-born, British-based [socialist feminist](/source/Socialist_feminism) academic and activist, author of many books and articles, and participant in many campaigns, from local community to international. She has taught in higher education in [London](/source/London), England, since 1970, at [Middlesex Polytechnic](/source/Middlesex_University) from 1973. In 1999, she was appointed Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at [Birkbeck, University of London](/source/Birkbeck%2C_University_of_London), where she now works in the School of Psychosocial Studies.[2]

## Early life

Segal was born on 29 March 1944 in [Sydney](/source/Sydney), Australia. Segal was born in a Jewish family to Iza and Reuben Segal, who were both physicians. Her brother Graeme is a mathematician and her sister Barbara is a baroque dancer. She studied psychology at [Sydney University](/source/University_of_Sydney), obtaining her PhD in 1969, while becoming immersed in the anti-authoritarian milieu of the Sydney Libertarians (known as "[The Push](/source/Sydney_Push)"), and has always remained within the libertarian wing of Left politics.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] She became pregnant in 1969 and married her husband, the artist [James Clifford](/source/James_Clifford_(artist)), who later came out as gay.[3][4][5]

## Activism

She emigrated to London in 1970 and for the next decade her main energies went into grass roots politics in [Islington, North London](/source/Islington), helping to set up and run a women's centre, an alternative newspaper, the *Islington Gutter Press*, and supporting [anti-racist politics](/source/Anti-racism). It was a decade in which the extra-party Left was on the ascendant, but divided structurally and ideologically.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In 1979, the three friends, Segal, [Sheila Rowbotham](/source/Sheila_Rowbotham) and [Hilary Wainwright](/source/Hilary_Wainwright) wrote *Beyond the Fragments*,[6] arguing for broader alliances among trade unionists, feminists and left political groups. Its argument quickly won a large following leading to a major conference in [Leeds](/source/Leeds), Yorkshire, in 1980 and a second edition in 1981. In 1984, publisher [Ursula Owen](/source/Ursula_Owen) invited her to join the [Virago](/source/Virago_Press) Advisory Board and write an appraisal of the state of feminism, resulting in her first book, *Is the Future Female? Troubled Thoughts on Contemporary Feminism*.[7] This book reached a broad audience, with its questioning of gender mythologies, whether of women's intrinsic virtues, or men's inevitable rapaciousness, which had been appearing in the work of many popular feminist writers in the 1980s.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Reflecting her socialist feminist milieu, Segal argued that feminists always needed to confront the ubiquitous negation of the "feminine", but women's battles could neither be reduced simply to battles with men, nor solved purely by revaluing the "feminine".[8] All Segal's consequent books have argued for a more inclusive form of [left-feminism](/source/Left-feminism), arguing for a more compassionate and egalitarian world.[9][10][11][12] Her next book, *Slow Motion: Changing Masculinities, Changing Men*,[13] rejected the equating of "[male sexuality](/source/Male_sexuality)" with "male violence", noting the complexity of forces generating very differing patterns of masculinity across time and place. Discussing the volatile fluidity of sexual experience, the same theoretical perspectives appeared in *Straight Sex: The Politics of Pleasure*.[14] There she deconstructs the notion of male activity and [female passivity](/source/Female_passivity) that underpin normative understandings of heterosexuality, and serve to shore up the language and practices of male dominance. In 2007, Segal published *Making Trouble: Life and Politics, a Political Memoir*,[15] covering her generation of post-war activists, pondering what has become of their politics in the grimmer, more divided world of the 21st century.

She has a son, Zim Segal, working in web technology. Segal has lived in Islington, North London, since she arrived from Sydney. Since 2000, she has worked, as a secular Jew, with [Jews for Justice for Palestinians](/source/Jews_for_Justice_for_Palestinians), [Independent Jewish Voices](/source/Independent_Jewish_Voices) and [Faculty for Israeli–Palestinian Peace](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Faculty_for_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_Peace&action=edit&redlink=1) (FFIPP) engaged in efforts to end the [Israeli occupation of Palestinian land](/source/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict) and create a just [peace between Israel and Palestine](/source/Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_peace_process).[1]

## Political views

Segal is a [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) member of the [Islington North](/source/Islington_North_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) [Constituency Labour Party](/source/Constituency_Labour_Party),[16] in the Highbury East branch.[17]

## Bibliography

### Books

- [Rowbotham, Sheila](/source/Sheila_Rowbotham); Segal, Lynne; [Wainwright, Hilary](/source/Hilary_Wainwright) (1981). *Beyond the fragments : feminism and the making of socialism (2nd ed.)*. London: Merlin Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780850362541](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780850362541).

- Segal, Lynne (1983). *What is to be done about the family*. Harmondsworth: [Penguin](/source/Penguin_Books) in association with the Socialist Society. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780140065961](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780140065961).

- Segal, Lynne (1987). *Is the future female? : troubled thoughts on contemporary feminism*. London: Virago. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780860686972](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780860686972).

- Segal, Lynne (1989). *The Past Before Us: Twenty Years of Feminism*. Feminist Review. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780415037525](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780415037525).

- Segal, Lynne; [McIntosh, Mary](/source/Mary_Susan_McIntosh) (1993). *Sex exposed : sexuality and the pornography debate*. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780813519388](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780813519388).

- Segal, Lynne. *Does pornography cause violence? The search for evidence* in Church Gibson, Pamela; Gibson, Roma (1993). *Dirty looks : women, pornography, power*. London: [British Film Institute](/source/British_Film_Institute) (BFI) Publishing. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780851704043](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780851704043).

- Segal, Lynne (1994). *Straight sex : rethinking the politics of pleasure*. Berkeley: University of California Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780520200012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780520200012).

- Segal, Lynne, ed. (1997). *New sexual agendas*. Basingstoke: Macmillan. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0333675681](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0333675681).

- Segal, Lynne (1999). [*Why feminism? : gender, psychology, politics*](https://archive.org/details/whyfeminismgende0000sega). Cambridge: [Polity](/source/Polity_(publisher)). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780745623474](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780745623474).

- Segal, Lynne (2007). *Slow motion : changing masculinities, changing men*. Basingstoke: [Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780230019270](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780230019270).

- Segal, Lynne (2007). *Making trouble : life and politics*. London: [Serpent's Tail](/source/Serpent's_Tail). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781852429379](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781852429379).

- Segal, Lynne; [Elaine Showalter](/source/Elaine_Showalter) (Introduction) (2013). *Out of Time: The Pleasures and Perils of Ageing*. London: [Verso Books](/source/Verso_Books). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781781681398](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781781681398).

- Segal, Lynne (2017). *Radical Happiness : Moments of Collective Joy*. London: Verso Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781786631541](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781786631541).

- Segal, Lynne (2023). *Lean on Me: A Politics of Radical Care*. London: Verso Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781804292945](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781804292945).

### Articles

- Segal, Lynne (1992). "Feminism and fatherhood". *The School Field*. **3** (1/2): 95–118. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0353-6807](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0353-6807).

- Segal, Lynne (16 January 2001). ["Boys' success at school is undermined by the same competitive machismo that dominates the ideas of many male academics"](http://www.proquest.co.uk/en-UK/catalogs/databases/detail/pq-hist-news.shtml). *The Guardian, Education*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

- Segal, Lynne (13 February 2001). ["We would all be better off if academics wrote fewer but better books, argues Lynne Segal"](http://www.proquest.co.uk/en-UK/catalogs/databases/detail/pq-hist-news.shtml). *The Guardian, Education*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

- Segal, Lynne (13 March 2001). ["Getting beyond truisms is still the greatest task facing psychology"](http://www.proquest.co.uk/en-UK/catalogs/databases/detail/pq-hist-news.shtml). *The Guardian, Education*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

- Segal, Lynne (10 April 2001). ["Where have all the radicals gone?"](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/apr/10/highereducation.uk1). *The Guardian, Education*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

- Baron-Cohen, Simon; Segal, Lynne (3 May 2003). ["Sex on the mind (e-mail exchange)"](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/may/03/science.comment). *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

- Segal, Lynne (2014). "Temporal Vertigo: The Paradoxes of Ageing". *Studies in Gender and Sexuality*. **15** (3): 214–222. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/15240657.2014.939022](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F15240657.2014.939022). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1524-0657](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1524-0657). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [143705554](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143705554).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Bio_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Bio_1-1) [Bindel, Julie](/source/Julie_Bindel) (2 March 2007). ["Confessions of a troublemaker"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/mar/02/biography.gender). *The Guardian*. London. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Podcast_2-0)** [Raewyn Connell](/source/Raewyn_Connell) (14 September 2006). ["Raewyn Connell on Lynne Segal RIHSS Key Thinkers Public Lecture Series"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070904203205/http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=1272). *The University of Sydney* (Podcast). Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cadwalladr, Carole (7 December 2008). ["It's been a long journey - and we're not there yet"](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/07/women-equality-rights-feminism-sexism-women-s-liberation-conference). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved 16 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Cooke, Rachel (1 February 2015). ["Lynne Segal: 'The language of sex is still phallocentric'"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/01/lynne-segal-violence-against-women-men-insecure). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Segal, Lynne (2 November 2013). ["A groovy kind of love: from sex in the 60s, to sex in your 60s"](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/02/sex-in-60s-free-love-lynne-segal). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Fragments_6-0)** [Rowbotham, Sheila](/source/Sheila_Rowbotham); Segal, Lynne; [Wainwright, Hilary](/source/Hilary_Wainwright) (1981). *Beyond the fragments : feminism and the making of socialism (2nd ed.)*. London: Merlin Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780850362541](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780850362541).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FutureFemale_7-0)** Segal, Lynne (1987). *Is the future female? : troubled thoughts on contemporary feminism*. London: [Virago](/source/Virago_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780860686972](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780860686972).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Violence_8-0)** Segal, Lynne. *Does pornography cause violence? The search for evidence* in Church Gibson, Pamela; Gibson, Roma (1993). *Dirty looks : women, pornography, power*. London: [British Film Institute (BFI) Publishing](/source/British_Film_Institute). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780851704043](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780851704043).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Family_9-0)** Segal, Lynne (1983). *What is to be done about the family*. Harmondsworth: [Penguin](/source/Penguin_Books) in association with the Socialist Society. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780140065961](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780140065961).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Exposed_10-0)** Segal, Lynne; McIntosh, Mary (1993). *Sex exposed : sexuality and the pornography debate*. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780813519388](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780813519388).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Agendas_11-0)** Segal, Lynne, ed. (1997). *New sexual agendas*. Basingstoke: Macmillan. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0333675681](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0333675681).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-WhyFeminism_12-0)** Segal, Lynne (1999). [*Why feminism? : gender, psychology, politics*](https://archive.org/details/whyfeminismgende0000sega). Cambridge: Polity. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780745623474](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780745623474).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-SlowMotion_13-0)** Segal, Lynne (2007). *Slow motion : changing masculinities, changing men*. Basingstoke: [Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780230019270](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780230019270).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Straight_14-0)** Segal, Lynne (1994). *Straight sex : rethinking the politics of pleasure*. Berkeley: University of California Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780520200012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780520200012).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Trouble_15-0)** Segal, Lynne (2007). *Making trouble : life and politics*. London: [Serpent's Tail](/source/Serpent's_Tail). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781852429379](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781852429379).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-jewishvoiceforlabour_16-0)** ["A statement from Jewish Labour members on the current attacks on Jeremy Corbyn"](http://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/jvl/a-jvl-statement-on-the-current-attacks-on-jeremy-corbyn/). [Jewish Voice for Labour](/source/Jewish_Voice_for_Labour). 26 March 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-theguardian3_17-0)** ["Antisemitism on the left and Jeremy Corbyn"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/05/antisemitism-on-the-left-and-jeremy-corbyn). *The Guardian*. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2018.

## External links

- [Lynne Segal's Birkbeck](http://www.bbk.ac.uk/sps/our_staff/academic/lynne_segal) home page

- Dave Hill, ["The truth about men and women"](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/11/gender.uk1), *Guardian Unlimited*. Interview 11 December 2000

- John Barker, [Review of *Making Trouble*](http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/making-trouble/), *[3:AM Magazine](/source/3%3AAM_Magazine)*, 2007

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lynne Segal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Segal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Segal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.