Gender is something you can witness anywhere. At H&M, a restaurant or pub, and a gym. In fact, a fitness centre is a great place to see how gender shapes our activities, and lets us stay true to our gender stereotypes. I have been going to LA Fitness, on and off for about 1.5 years now. And I've seen a lot in terms of gender. I wrote a gym rant a while ago, targeting people who do not work out. This has to do with "how" people work out.There is a reason why I do not take my phone/iPod to the gym. I don't take my phone because it was stolen with my precious 8 GB memory stick with all my lovely pictures on it. I don't listen to music because I think it distracts me. And, mostly because I wanna hear people's funny conversations, lol. So, what did I observe?
A clear gender divide. Looking over at the Cardio section, I realized that there are more women than men at all given times, even though there were enough men. It wasn't a lopsided ratio, I would say it was about 60/40. Men are mostly seen working out in the weights section, right? They work on their arms, torsos and thighs as opposed to women working on their waist, bottoms, and hips. This is probably the most evident of all gender stereotypes. Why are they working on these parts of their body? Because men want to be "strong" and women want to be "thin." Bench press, and other weight racks are dominated by men whereas treadmills, stairs, and elliptical machines are all populated by women. However, in the weights section, the ratio IS lopsided. A majority of men are in that section, while only a few (really few) women (athletic) attempt to intrude their territory. This is how both men and women stay true to their stereotypes. Men wanting to look "muscular" and to "tone up" and majority of the women wanting to "lose" weight and look "thin."
The women' change room is probably the most entertaining place that I came across. All sorts of conversations about diet plans, diet supplements, work out regimes and gossip about trainers. You also get to see women with "perfect" (in our society, that is THIN) bodies walking around almost naked, in and out of the sauna room. Whereas, women with bigger bodies are hidden with towels, and seldom seen changing in the main change room. They usually change in the shower area, in their own privacy. What does that say about women and femininity? Go figure.
An observation about "behavior" at the gym has to do with checking themselves out in the mirror. LA has huuuge mirrored-walls located in the main gymnasium, ladies room and the weights section. Women tend to check themselves out much more than men. This could probably mean that they think about their bodies in a more visual way than men. We are constantly worried about the kind of space our body is taking up and how it looks. We also somewhat think about what we see in the mirror and what we should be seeing. Men, on the other hand, are in a habit of rolling up their tee sleeves and "flexing." I thought the purpose of the gym was to make your bodies "function" and not see how your bodies "look" while you are trying to function.
Over the last year or so, I have also come to realize that more satisfying workouts come from men rather than women. I could be wrong, though. I believe men push to the hardest level before they finish their workout. Women, do not exactly 'push' to their extreme. Do you notice that a man will groan and have a particularly intense orgasm sound-effect while trying to squeeze that last bench press after a set of hundred. You don't hear those sound effects coming from women. You also don't see many women sweating as much as men. We normally tend to freshen up as soon as we can. Even if I smell a whiff of bad odour, it usually is from a guy.
Last but not the least, the group classes taught by trainers are the province of women. You seldom see any guys in there. In the main gym, you see women working out alone and guys working out in pairs. I always notice that a spotter will help a guy hoist up a weight once their muscles have reached failure. But women are there on their own, doing their own thing. Yesterday, while I was in my Zumba class, there were about 50 women and ONE guy. He was black and he danced amazing! He came with his girlfriend. That shows how uncomfortable men are made to be by women. Even if they want to work out in a Pilates or yoga class, all the women will stare him down and scare him away, as if he's a wimp or something.
I really wish that we did not have to perform gender in such a way, to reinforce our gender stereotypes at the gym. I always wanted to freely walk into the weights section without a dozen men staring at me, and judging me by looking at my body. I believe that might happen in the coming years as the gender divide is always lopsided and never equal. Who knows, it might weigh heavier on the womens' end in the coming years?
P.S. Exercising is awesome. I don't know why I gave up on it. It can do many wonders, and I am speaking of my aunt flow, LOL. Mother nature has given me a call 6 days short of my anticipated date. Even though I am fatigued and moody as fuck right now, but still.. I am happy that exercising has started to bring things to normal. I had trouble with them for three and a half months before this. And now, just within 20 days? Cool.
It's really windy out today. I am gonna stay in today and study Statistics. I hope all of you have a great day!
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