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 Lenskyj Toronto: Women's Press, 2003; 174pp.

A LOT TO LEARN: Girls, Women and Education in the 20th Century Helen Jefferson Lenskyj Toronto: Women's Press, 2005; 181pp.

Within the span of two years, Helen Jefferson Lenskyj produced two texts: Out on the Field: Gender, Sport and Sexualities (2003), and A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women and Education in 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, Lenskyj presents a text that is a collection of her previously published work, much of it having appeared in feminist journals, including Resources for Feminist Research, Canadian Woman Studies, and Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. Thus, in some ways this text can be seen as a "best of Lenskyj" collection, one that draws on her wealth of knowledge in the areas of homophobia and sexual harassment in sport (Part I), (the inadequacy of) liberal feminist responses to issues of gender and sexuality in 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 in her areas of expertise, the collection's format results in an eclectic and at times disjointed text. The text would have benefited significantly from an introductory chapter that goes beyond the current two...