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Helen Lenskyj

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Helen Lenskyj
Born (1943-04-15) April 15, 1943 (age 82)
Sydney, Australia
Occupations
  • Sociologist
  • historian
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
ThesisThe role of physical education in the socialization of girls in Ontario, 1890–1930 (1983)
Academic work
DisciplineSport history
Institutions

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (born April 15, 1943) is a Canadian sociologist and historian. Born and raised in Australia, she did graduate studies at the University of Toronto, where she then became a professor. A scholar of Olympic studies, she wrote several sport history books such as Out of Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality (1986), Olympic Industry Resistance (2008), Sexual Diversity and the Sochi 2014 Olympics (2014), and Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (2018), as well as an autobiography called A Lot to Learn (2005).

Biography

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Lenskyj was born on April 15, 1943 in Sydney, Australia,[1] to a working-class family of English and Scottish descent.[2] Her great-grandfather was exiled to an Australian penal colony.[2] She was educated at Kambala School[3] and the Sydney Kindergarten Teachers' College, where she obtained her diploma in early childhood education in 1964.[1]

After emigrating to Canada, she worked as an instructor and program supervisor for the Ministry of Culture and Recreation while studying at the University of Toronto,[2] where she got a BA in 1977.[1] In addition to working as a lecturer at James Cook University in 1978, she did graduate studies at UToronto, where she got a MA in 1981 and a PhD in 1983.[1] Her doctoral dissertation was The role of physical education in the socialization of girls in Ontario, 1890–1930.[4]

In 1986, she began working at UToronto's Faculty of Education (now the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) as a part-time instructor.[2] She was promoted to associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1997,[2] before retiring in 2007.[1] She also worked as a senior research officer at UToronto, as well as a research advisor for the government's Fitness and Amateur Sport Women's Program and a research network member for the Premier's Council on Health, Well-being, and Social Justice.[2]

Her research focuses on women's sport and Olympic studies.[1] She wrote several books on sport history, including Out of Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality (1986), Inside the Olympic Industry (2000), The Best Ever Olympics: Social Impacts of Sydney 2000 (2002), Out on the Field (2003),[2] and Olympic Industry Resistance (2008).[5] She took a break from writing about the Olympics until hearing about Yelena Isinbayeva's remarks against pro-LGBT rainbow-coloured fingernails, inspiring her to write Sexual Diversity and the Sochi 2014 Olympics (2014).[6] She then wrote another book, Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (2018).[7]

She was co-editor of the journal Resources for Feminist Research (1987–1990), as well as an editorial board member for Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal (1993–1996) and Journal of Sport and Social Issues (1994–?).[2] In 2005, she wrote an autobiography called A Lot to Learn.[2] She has also written instruction manuals aimed at educators.[2] She won the 1990 Canadian Women & Sport Breakthrough Award for her work on the history of women's sport, as well as the 1991 Ontario Historical Society Riddell Award.[2]

She is lesbian and became involved in LGBT activism, including with The ArQuives.[2] She was an executive member for Canadian Women & Sport in 1985.[8] In 2004, she was made a Toronto municipal Persons Day award recipient in connection to her women's rights activism.[2]

She lives in Toronto.[1]

Bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Helen J. Lenskyj fonds". discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Lenskyj, Helen Jefferson 1943–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  3. ^ "Helen Jefferson Lenskyj". LinkedIn. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  4. ^ Lenskyj, Helen (1984). The role of physical education in the socialization of girls in Ontario, 1890–1930 (PhD thesis). University of Toronto. OCLC 16033543.
  5. ^ "Helen Jefferson Lenskyj". Centre for Sport and Human Rights. Archived from the original on March 25, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Magee, Siobhan (February 7, 2016). "Book Review: Sexual Diversity and the Sochi 2014 Olympics: No More Rainbows by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj". LSE Review of Books. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  7. ^ "Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport". Centre for Sport and Human Rights. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  8. ^ O’Brien, Jan (June 16, 1985). "Working for a CAAWS". The Province. p. 84 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Heisch, Allison (1988). "Sporting Chances". The Women's Review of Books. 6 (1): 1–4. doi:10.2307/4020306. ISSN 0738-1433. JSTOR 4020306.
  10. ^ Todd, Jan; Todd, Terry (1989). "Review of Out of Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality". Journal of Sport History. 16 (1): 86–89. ISSN 0094-1700. JSTOR 43609387.
  11. ^ Wallace, Bronwen (April 25, 1987). "Women: As athlete, as patient". The Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Lüschen, Günther (2001). "Review of Inside the Olympic Industry. Power, Politics, and Activism". The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie. 26 (4): 685–688. doi:10.2307/3341503. ISSN 0318-6431. JSTOR 3341503.
  13. ^ McTeer, William (2003). "The Best Olympics Ever? Social Impact of Sydney 2000". OLYMPIKA: The International Journal of Olympic Studies. 12: 63–64.
  14. ^ Roper, Emily A. (2004). "Out on the field: Gender, sport and sexualities". Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal. 13 (2): 100-101 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ Belcher, S.M. (2006). "Book Review: A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women, and Education in the 20th Century". Journal of International Women's Studies. 8 (1): 293–295. ISSN 1539-8706.
  16. ^ Carroll, James T. (October 1, 2006). "Helen Jefferson Lenskyj. A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women, and Education in the 20th Century". Historical Studies in Education / Revue d'histoire de l'éducation: 246–247. doi:10.32316/hse/rhe.v18i2.358. ISSN 1911-9674.
  17. ^ Bairner, Alan (2009). "Review of Olympic Industry Resistance: Challenging Olympic Power and Propaganda". The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie. 34 (3): 969–972. ISSN 0318-6431.
  18. ^ Broucek, Mark (2010). "Review of Olympic Industry Resistance: Challenging Olympic Power and Propaganda, Lenskyj, Helen Jefferson". Journal of Sport History. 37 (1): 171–172. doi:10.5406/jsporthistory.37.1.171. ISSN 0094-1700.
  19. ^ Johnson, Alicia J. "Sexual Diversity and the Sochi 2014 Olympics: No More Rainbows". Sociology of Sport Journal. 33 (2). doi:10.1123/ssj.2015-0083.
  20. ^ Rothera, Evan C. (2019). "Review of Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Lenskyj, Helen Jefferson". Journal of Sport History. 46 (3): 421–423. doi:10.5406/jsporthistory.46.3.0421. ISSN 0094-1700.
  21. ^ Teetzel, Sarah (June 8, 2022). "Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj". Journal of Emerging Sport Studies. 7. doi:10.26522/jess.v7i.3973. ISSN 2562-3184.
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