Joseph Gelfer (born 1974) is a British author and academic now living in Australia. He is currently an Adjunct Research Associate at the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University. His main area of research is religion and masculinities. Gelfer has a doctorate in religious studies from Victoria University of Wellington.
Gelfer’s recent research has shown that masculine spirituality tends to perpetuate a patriarchal spirituality, and that gay spirituality and queer theory can be a useful way to think about masculinities for all men, gay or straight. This is presented in his book Numen, Old Men: Contemporary Masculine Spiritualities and the Problem of Patriarchy (Equinox Publishers, 2009).
Gelfer is the founding and current editor of Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality.