OUT ON THE FIELD: Gender, Sport and Sexualities/A LOT TO LEARN: Girls, Women and Education in the 20th Century

OUT ON THE FIELD: Gender, Sport and Sexualities Helen Jefferson Toronto: Women's Press, 2003; 174pp. A LOT TO LEARN: Girls, Women and Education the 20th Century Helen Jefferson Toronto: Women's Press, 2005; 181pp. Within the span of two years, Helen Jefferson produced two texts: Out on the Field: Gender, Sport and Sexualities (2003), and A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women and Education the 20th Century (2005). On the surface, these texts have little to do with each other: one examines sport and the other examines education. However, the texts both share insightful commentaries on issues of gender and sexuality, Lenskyj's intolerance of liberal feminism, and an easily accessible style. In Out on the Field, presents a text that is a collection of her previously published work, much of it having appeared feminist journals, including Resources for Feminist Research, Canadian Woman Studies, and Women Sport and Physical Activity Journal. Thus, some ways this text can be seen as a best of Lenskyj collection, one that draws on her wealth of knowledge the areas of homophobia and sexual harassment sport (Part I), (the inadequacy of) liberal feminist responses to issues of gender and sexuality sport (Part II), and (seemingly more acceptable) radical feminist analyses of sport and sexuality (Part III). While having a compilation of Lenskyj's work is a service to those interested her areas of expertise, the collection's format results an eclectic and at times disjointed text. The text would have benefited significantly from an introductory chapter that goes beyond the current two pages provides. Such an introduction would have contributed to an understanding of the context and significance of the work included this collection, which spans a period often years. In addition, a brief introduction to each section would provide much needed background information for the intended undergraduate audience, which, for example, would likely initially struggle to see the connections between sexual harassment and homophobic harassment or even ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. Of particular note Out of Bounds is Lenskyj's account of the ways which the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS) attempted to manage its so-called image problem (i.e., association with lesbians) its early days. Also notable is Lenskyj's deconstruction of the claim that sport has become a safe place for lesbians, resulting the marginalization of heterosexual athletes. In response, points out that, in reality, sport is not necessarily a safe and comfortable place for lesbians, nor do all women's sporting practices necessarily challenge hegemonic femininity. Lesbians continue to be stigmatized, sexually harassed and silenced sport contexts, and women's sport continues to be co-opted, controlled and exploited the interests of patriarchal hegemony (p. 90). Cogent arguments, strong examples from across several decades, and introductions to terms such as hegemony, social construction, and the apologetic women's sport render this text appropriate for undergraduate audiences who have been well prepared drawing parallels between multiple sites of oppression. A Lot to Learn, Lenskyj's more recent work, utilizes the author's personal narratives and examples from her mother's life to examine girls and women's experiences of education from the early 1800s to the 1950s Rose Bay, Australia, and from the 1960s onwards Toronto. …

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