Janet Lever (born December 5, 1946) is an American sociologist and professor emerita of sociology at
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...
. She is recognized for her research on sex, intimate relationships, gender, and sport.
Education
Lever earned her BA summa cum laude from
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
(1968) and her Ph.D. in sociology from
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
(1974). While in graduate school, she coauthored with
Pepper Schwartz the 1971 book ''Women at Yale'', documenting the historic first year of undergraduate coeducation at that university.
Career and research
Before joining the CSULA faculty in 1990, she taught sociology at
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
,
Northwestern,
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, and
UCSD
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing ...
, and completed a post-doctoral program in health policy at
RAND
The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
.
Lever and Schwartz had several other collaborations, most notably coauthoring
Glamour magazine's "Sex and Health" column for nearly all the 1990s, and then drawing on that advice to publish the 1998
Putnam book ''The Great Sex Weekend: A 48-hour Guide to Rekindling Sparks for Bold, Busy, or Bored Lovers.''. The 2015
Frommer’s ''Places for Passion'' is their most recent joint production.
Lever’s most notable solo-authored academic achievements include 1970’s articles on sex differences in children’s play. This research was invited to appear in ''Feminist Foundations: Toward Transforming Sociology''.
Lever's 1983
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
book ''Soccer Madness'' was published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. Waveland Press kept the book in production through 2017. University of Chicago Press endorsements included James F. Short Jr., then president of the ''American Sociological Review,'' who said, “By addressing the most fundamental of problems addressed by the social sciences,
occer Madnesselevates sociology of sport to a subdiscipline of the highest importance,” while endorser Ian Taylor noted, “Lever’s interest in Brazilian soccer and her friendship with
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
should become one of the folk tales of the sociology of sport.” The review in ''Scientific American'' concluded: "Lever has given the reader a small book as well written as it is thoughtful: the role of sport in human society is deserving more study, and this account is a happy example painted in the bright colors and sharp contrasts of Brazilian Life."
She was not granted tenure by the university promotions committee. In 1981, Lever sued
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
for sex discrimination in violation of
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
. The lawsuit fell outside the statute of limitations and the case was dismissed in 1992. Labor lawyer and Yale scholar Julius Getman devoted eight pages to “The Case of Janet Lever” in his book subtitled ''The Struggle for the Soul of Higher Education'' and concluded that the denial of tenure to Lever was “a loss to the students she might have taught, and a loss to the world of scholarship." Federal Judge Nancy Gertner, in her book
In Defense of Women: Memoirs of an Unrepentant Advocate'' described the twofold challenges of Lever v. Northwestern: (1) the difficulty of proving a case based on disparate treatment and (2) the astronomical cost of litigation.
Lever cohosted “
Women on Sex,” an all-female (crew and audience, as well as cast) advice show on the new
Playboy Channel
Playboy TV (originally The Playboy Channel) is a pay television channel based in the United States.
History
The adult-oriented, commercial-free premium channel Bravo! launched in the summer of 1979. Bravo! aired two PG or R-rated B movies t ...
; episodes ran from 1983 through 1988. She was the senior advisor on the 1982
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
Readers Sex Survey, the largest magazine study of the era.
She worked at the
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
, most notably on a study on how to safely lift the
ban against gays in the military and later a survey of 1000 street prostitutes in LA County.
[Lever. J., Kanouse, D.E., and Berry, S.H. (2005) �]
Racial and Ethnic Segmentation of Female Prostitutes in Los Angeles County
” ''Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality'', 17 (1/2): 1-7-129. Lever worked with others on ten surveys, funded by
ELLE magazine
''Elle'' (stylized in all caps) is a worldwide magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle. The title ''Elle'' means ''She'' in French. ''Elle'' is considered "one of the world's largest ...
, that were posted on the popular website
NBCNews.com (msnbc.com at the time) between 2002 and 2010, some attracting more than 70,000 volunteer respondents. Each of the teams’ internet surveys has been reanalyzed for social science, management, health, and medical audiences, two of their articles won awards (see publication notations).
Selected works
*Lever, J. “Soccer: Opium of the Brazilian People,” ''Trans-action'', 7: 36–43 (December, 1969).
*Lever, J. and Goodman, L.W. “Toys and Socialization to Sex Roles,” ''Ms.'', December, 1972.
*Lever, J. and Wheeler, S. (December 1984) “The Sports Page: 1900–1975,” with Stanton Wheeler, ''Sociology of Sport Journal''. (Lead Article)
*Lever, J. “Condoms and Collegians,” ''Playboy'', September, 1988.
*Lever, J. “College Women Talk About Campus Sex,” ''Playboy'', October, 1989.
*Lever, J, Kanouse, D.E., Rogers, W.H., Carson, S, and Hertz, R. "Behavior Patterns and Sexual Identity of Bisexual Males," ''Journal of Sex Research'', (Lead Article, May, 1992).
*Lever, J. "The 1994 Advocate Survey of Sexuality and Relationships: The Men," Issue 661/662, ''The Advocate'', August 23, 1994, pp. 16–24.
*Lever, J. "The 1995 Advocate Survey of Sexuality and Relationships: The Women," ''The Advocate'', Issue 687/688. August 22, 1995, pp. 22–30.
*Lever, J., Zellman, G., and Hirschfeld, S.J. “The Truth About Sex in the Office: You Can’t Stamp Out Workplace Romance, so Here’s How to Handle It Better” (March/April 2006) ''Across the Board'', (the magazine for The Conference Board) Cover Story.
*Lever, J., Frederick, D. A., Laird, K., Sadeghi-Azar, L. (2007). Tall women’s satisfaction with their height: General population data challenge assumptions behind medical interventions to stunt girls’ growth. ''Journal of Adolescent Health'', 40, 192–194.
*Elsesser, K.M. and J Lever (2011) Does gender bias against female leaders persist? Quantitative and qualitative data from a large-scale survey? ''Human Relations'' 64: 1555-1578 (second place HR Paper of the Year Award).
*Gillespie, B.J., Lever, J., Frederick, D.A., and Royce. T. (2014) "Close Adult Friendships, Gender, and the Life Cycle." ''Journal of Social and Personal Relationships''. doi: 10.1177/0265407514546977
*Lever, J. “Making Friends with Pelé,” ''London’s Financial Times Magazine'' (World Cup Special Edition) June 7/8, 2014, p. 25.
*Frederick, D.A. Lever, J., Gillespie, B.J. & Garcia, J.R. (2017) What Keeps Passion Alive? ''Journal of Sex Research'', 54:2, 186–201, DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2015.1137854 (winner of JSR’s 2017 Hugo Beigel Award for research excellence in sexual science).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lever, Janet
1946 births
Living people
Yale University alumni
American sociologists
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
Sociology educators
American women sociologists
20th-century American women writers
Northwestern University faculty
California State University, Los Angeles faculty
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
Yale University faculty
20th-century American non-fiction writers