Susan Cahn

Susan K. Cahn
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Thesis	Coming on strong : gender and sexuality in women's sport, 1900-1960 (1990)
Academic work
Institutions	University of Buffalo

Susan Kathleen Cahn is a historian known for her work on women's studies and LGBTQ topics. She is a professor at the University of Buffalo.

Education and career

Cahn has a B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1981) and an M.A. from the University of Minnesota (1985).[1] In 1990 she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.[2] In 1992 she joined the faculty at the University of Buffalo[3][4] where, as of 2022 Cahn is an emeritus professor.[1]

Work

Cahn is known for her writing on women in sports, adolescence, lesbian history, and chronic illness. Her 1995 book, Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-century Women's Sport examines the role of Title IX in gender equality in sports participation.[5] The book won an award from the North American Society for Sport History,[6][7] and a second edition was published in 2015.[8] Her work on the rise of women's sports teams,[9] and making women prove their sex[10] has been covered in multiple news outlets.[11] In 2012 she wrote about women growing up in the south in Sexual Reckonings: Southern Girls in a Troubling Age.[12]

Selected publications

• Cahn, Susan K. (1993). "From the "Muscle Moll" to the "Butch" Ballplayer: Mannishness, Lesbianism, and Homophobia in U.S. Women's Sport". Feminist Studies. 19 (2): 343–368. doi:10.2307/3178373. ISSN 0046-3663. JSTOR 3178373.
• Cahn, Susan K. (1994). "Sports Talk: Oral History and Its Uses, Problems, and Possibilities for Sport History". The Journal of American History. 81 (2): 594–609. doi:10.2307/2081175. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2081175.
• Cahn, Susan Kathleen (2003). Coming on strong gender and sexuality in twentieth-century women's sport. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-674-14434-7. OCLC 249720598.
• Women and sports in the United States : a documentary reader. Jean O'Reilly, Susan K. Cahn. Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-1-55553-787-6. OCLC 794003770.
• Cahn, Susan K. (2012). Sexual reckonings : southern girls in a troubling age. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06393-8. OCLC 768071804.

Awards and honors

In 2013 Cahn was named a William S. Vaughn Visiting Fellow by Vanderbilt University.[4] In 2015, Cahn delivered the John R. Betts lecture at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Sport History.[13]

References

1. "Cahn, Susan K. - University at Buffalo". arts-sciences.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
2. Cahn, Susan Kathleen (1990). Coming on strong: gender and sexuality in women's sport, 1900-1960 (Thesis). OCLC 23257189.
3. "HISTORY Matters - Department of History, University at Buffalo". yumpu.com. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
4. "UB historian receives prestigious visiting fellowship at Vanderbilt". www.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
5. Reviews for Coming on strong gender and sexuality in twentieth-century women's sport:
   • Wachs, Faye Linda (1996). "Review of Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women's Sport; Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History". Gender and Society. 10 (3): 355–357. doi:10.1177/089124396010003012. ISSN 0891-2432. JSTOR 189704. S2CID 220469417.
   • Del Rey, Patricia (1994). "Review of Women in Sport: Issues and Controversies; Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History; Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth Century Women's Sport". NWSA Journal. 6 (3): 497–501. ISSN 1040-0656. JSTOR 4316363.
   • Tyrrell, Ian (1996). "Review of Coming on Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women's Sport". The Journal of American History. 83 (2): 646–647. doi:10.2307/2945027. ISSN 0021-8723. JSTOR 2945027.
   • Liberti, Rita (2007). "Review of Women and Sports in the United States: A Documentary Reader". Journal of Sport History. 34 (3): 512–513. ISSN 0094-1700. JSTOR 43611781.
6. Liberti, Rita (2013). "Coming On [and Staying] Strong: Gender and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Women's Sport". Journal of Sport History. 40 (2): 297–307. doi:10.5406/jsporthistory.40.2.297. ISSN 0094-1700. JSTOR 10.5406/jsporthistory.40.2.297. S2CID 160911487.
7. "Book Awards". NASSH. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
8. Cahn, Susan K. "UI Press | Susan K. Cahn | Coming On Strong". www.press.uillinois.edu. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
9. Cramer, Maria (2022-04-28). "How Women's Sports Teams Got Their Start". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
10. Padawer, Ruth (2016-06-28). "The Humiliating Practice of Sex-Testing Female Athletes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
11. Compton, Julie (March 16, 2022). "Lia Thomas isn't the first female athlete whose victories have been questioned, experts say". NBC News. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
12. Reviews for Sexual Reckonings: Southern Girls in a Troubling Age
    • Dorr, Lisa Lindquist (2009-06-01). "Sexual Reckonings: Southern Girls in a Troubling Age . By Susan K. Cahn. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007. Pp.375. $29.95.)". The Historian. 71 (2): 350–351. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.2009.00240_8.x. ISSN 0018-2370. S2CID 144127849.
    • Moran, Jeffrey P. (2008). "Sexual Reckonings: Southern Girls in a Troubling Age". The American Historical Review. 113 (5): 1567–1568. doi:10.1086/ahr.113.5.1567. ISSN 0002-8762.
13. "Sport History at "The U": The Forty-Third Annual North American Society for Sport History Convention". Sport in American History. 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2022-07-24.