Through various studies, Assistant Psychology Professor at Amherst College, Jessica Salvatore, and Professor of Women’s Psychology at Swarthmore College, Jeanne Marecek explore the reasons behind gender barriers in the gym, in an article entitled “Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting.” Although strength training proves to enhance mood, strengthen the immune system, and prevent osteoporosis, they’ve observed a lack of women in the weight room. Salvatore and Marecek believe women avoid this benefit due to evaluation concerns, which they define as “people’s interest in what others think of them” (Salvatore, Marecek 557). In the past, psychologists have studied similar topics concerning the pressure women receive to conform-- claiming women receive more pressure than men. Alternately, Salvatore and Marecek recognize, analyze, and briefly pose solutions for both men and women who face evaluation concerns in the gym attributable to certain experiences. They further explore gender barriers of the gym through four elaborate studies. Study 1 seeks evidence if cultural norm …show more content…
They state cultural backgrounds influence fitness gender goals, but only survey white women of the same age-range (and a few white men) attending co-educational colleges. Perhaps, results would differ if they studied women from an all-women college. An all-women college would mean an all-women gym without men to intimidate novice female lifters. Perhaps, results would differ if the psychologists studied older women, Asian models, female black construction worker, or female Arabian politicians. For instance, black women are often stereotyped as strong, so maybe more black women would show interest in strength training than white women. In different cultures, inside and outside of the United States, do females view strength differently? The thin female body is not a universal
The culture of the gym is slowly coming together just after two days of observations. The gym is primarily a male dominant place to do but in our college the only area that is completely dominant is the weight lifting area and that’s only during prime hours. Also on the note of personal space there is noticeably a tendency for both male and female to have a certain amount of space around them like a personal bubble.
For so long, the Athletic Training profession has been dominated by men. In the article “Women in Athletic Training”, the author Marcia K. Anderson does a study that describes what the pioneer women of athletic training had to go through during a time of male dominance. Women entered the athletic training realm as the underlings and weren’t respected as athletic trainers. “The purpose of the study was to describe, from their perspectives, the early experiences of women . . .,” (Anderson 42) rather than building an argument on how she feels about the situation, she’s going to be the middle man and explain their stories. It’s important for an author to establish credibility or ethos because one word or sentence could either be the death or birth of his/her reputation. Ethos lets the reader know whether or not the author is trustworthy. Although Anderson does not have personal experience with breaking into the field, interviewing the thirteen pioneer women gives her credibility in some areas while taking away in others. There are some key aspects she leaves out that lessen her credibility throughout the article, such as, not having any athletic training experience to fall back on, the demographics of the women she interviews, and how she interviews the women.
The movie, "Pumping Iron II" is an example of women doing bodybuilding which is considered a non-traditional sport. Images of muscular women are viewed by some people as threatening and imitating. The benefit of this non-traditional sport is that it forces us to question our thoughts about women and what they are. We must ask, what is a woman? Bodybuildi...
Sports, in general, are a male dominated activity; every “real” male is suppose to be interested and/or involved in sports in the American society. However, it is not expected of a female to be interested in sports and there is less pressure on them to participate in physically enduring activities. These roles reflect the traditional gender roles imposed on our society that men are supposed to be stronger and dominant and females are expected to be submissive. As Michael Kimmel further analyzes these gender roles by relating that, “feminism also observes that men, as a group, are in power. Thus with the same symmetry, feminism has tended to assume that individually men must feel powerful” (106).
Unintentionally, a lot of us have been boxed into institutions that promote gender inequality. Even though this was more prominent decades ago, we still see how prevalent it is in today’s world. According to the authors of the book, Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions, Lisa Wade and Myra Marx Ferree define gendered institutions as “the one in which gender is used as an organizing principle” (Wade and Ferree, 167). A great example of such a gendered institution is the sports industry. Specifically in this industry, we see how men and women are separated and often differently valued into social spaces or activities and in return often unequal consequences. This paper will discuss the stigma of sports, how gender is used to separate athletes, and also what we can learn from sports at Iowa State.
Masculinity’s need for femininity has been a concept that I have witnessed in my own experiences; for example: gender-based spaces. I believe the most prominent example of this in my own life takes place in weight room here at UW-Whitewater. As a particularly male dominated space, it is very easy to feel intimidated. Most of the men present will either make girls who are also there for the same purpose as them feel as if they are in the way, or perhaps worse, they will be very intrusive and assume that their assistance is required. Both of these aspects are a factor in male masculinity’s need for femininity. For one, a feminine, female-identifying person such as myself partaking in the same activities that are often thought of as “manly” takes away the sacredness that such an activity only “belongs” to men. Moreover, my own independence as a woman, especially in a male-dominated z...
According to the Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review’s article on the female athlete triad, in the past forty years, American women have become increasingly involved in athletics as a result of laws allowing them to participate in sports. (Lebrun and Rumball) For instance, Cathy Rigby won eight Olympic gold medals in gymnastics during the ‘60’s and 70’s when these laws were just coming into effect. (Brunet) Nevertheless, there is an ugly hidden underbelly to the many benefits of women’s increased participation in sports. Many sports have very high standards for body image, which has led to the increasing prevalence of three “separate… but interrelated conditions” collectively known as the female athlete triad. (Lebrun and Rumball) Despite Cathy Rigby’s aforementioned success, an article by Dr. Michael Brunet reveals that she was severely affected by the most well-known of the female athlete triad: the eating disorder. This eventually caused her to suffer cardiac arrest twice. (Brunet) These effects are not limited to elite athletes, however; high school athletes are also affected by the triad, particularly those participating in sports “in which leanness is perceived to optimize performance” or which use “specific weight categories.” (Lebrun) The three components of the triad, osteoporosis, amenorrhea, and disordered eating, are increasingly becoming an unfortunate effect of distorted body image on sports.
Although fitness centers and gyms may appear to be a place to break a sweat and work out with the intention of not being seen without makeup and in grungy clothes, this may not be the case, in particular when it comes to college gyms. Contrary to the findings Tamara L. Black displayed in her dissertation for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from the University of California in Los Angeles, in which she depicts the situation of the classical fitness center as exercise dominated, after observations made while participating in the Boston College Recreational Complex, fitness centers may be more heavily focused on expressing sexual and social relations than for health related issues. Although she does not elaborate on this view of the gym, she does recognize that “popular media, cultural stereotypes, and some empirical literature depict gyms as places to meet people, where sexualized interactions are likely to take place, where bodies are on display as objects of desire” (pg. 40). This may be the perfect definition of the situation that I found in my observations. Shari L. Dworkin and Faye Linda Wachs, in Body Panic: Gender, Health, and the Selling of Fitness, acknowledge “mainstream media construct men as active and women as inactive. In this view, women are often shown as ‘being visually perfect’ and passive, immobile, and unchanging’” (pg. 40). Perhaps we have media to blame for this hyper-sexualization of a situation that was initially intended for self-fulfillment and health related practices.
The existence of hegemonic power related to gender roles in sport limits the participation of students in Sport Aerobics. This hypothesis is supported by the data gathered from a survey that 24 Nambour High students took (Appendix 1). The survey included 2 female and male students from each year level. This survey revealed that only 16% of students have participated in Sport Aerobics and the majority of the students were from the senior year levels. When the students were asked what gender Sport Aerobics is for over half the students said both male and female. However, 37% of the students said that Sport Aerobics is for women only and 6 out the 9 students that answered women were male meaning that the majority of male students believe that Sport Aerobics is a feminine sport. None of the students believed that Sport Aerobics is an only male sport. Seventy percent of students throughout all the year levels believe that men are stronger than women. The only students that said women were female themselves. It is fixed in to student’s minds that men are stronger than women because of the lack of recognition to female athletes on the media. Students only see strong male athletes such as rugby league players presented on the media. This accounts for the 70% of students that do not watch any women’s sport and the only students that do were female. This result is due to the lack of women role models in the
Within todays sporting community, certain aspects of sport and its practices promote and construct ideas that sport in general is a male dominated. Sports media often provides an unequal representation of genders. Women athletes are regularly perceived as mediocre in comparison to their male equivalents (Lenskyj, 1998). Achievement in sport is generally established through displays of strength, speed and endurance, men usually set the standards in these areas, consequently woman rarely reach the level set by top male athletes. Due to this, the media significantly shows bias towards male sports while we are ill-informed about the achievements in the female sporting community. On the occasion that a female athlete does make some form of an appearance in the media, images and videos used will usually portray the female in sexually objectified ways (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). This depiction of female athletes can cause males to take focus solely on the sexual assets of the athlete in preference to to their sporting abilities (Daniels & Wartena, 2011). Sexualisation of sportswoman in the media is a prevalent issue in today’s society, it can cause physical, social and mental problems among women of all ages (Lenskyj, 1998).
“The Politics of Muscle” by Gloria Steinem is an essay arguing the difference in strength between men and women. Steinem starts her essay by stating how she grew up in a generation where women didn’t participate in a lot, if any, sport activities. She goes on to say that she believes this is the reason why women of her generation believe that it’s not what the female body does, but how it looks. Steinem feels that women always seemed to be owned in some degree as the means of reproduction. She believes that women are made to feel ashamed of their strength and that “only when women rebel against patriarchal standards does female muscle become more accepted.” (pg 372)
The competition between the different exercise protocols for space highlights the struggle for each group to garner valuable resources to enhance their training routine. Next, the gym showcases social laws that everyone adheres to such as cleaning equipment, avoid gawking at others, and sticking to your respective workout space. Consequently, when a deviance to any of these laws becomes apparent the gym society swiftly acts to correct the action with disapproval and guidance for corrective actions. Finally, the gym truly embodies cultural pluralism during this hour long viewing people work together, conversant, and encourage one another regardless of their ethnic background. Since examples are highlighting social concepts, let’s move
Bodybuilding is a practice where through dieting and strengthening individuals enlarge the muscles of their body. Consequently, there are many health risks associated with bodybuilding. It takes a very big toll on a person’s health, not just physically, but mentally as well. For many years the sport of bodybuilding has been male dominated but in the last few decades, female bodybuilding has been making an appearance within the industry. Many believe that female bodybuilding is an act of feminism because it represents the transgression of the social constructs of gender roles such as what it means to be a woman and how a woman should look. For female bodybuilders, it allows them to take charge of their mental well-being and feel empowered.
Krane, V. (2001). We can be athletic and feminine, but do we want to? Challenging hegemonic femininity in women's sport. Quest, 53,115-133.
Ann, 2007, pg. 57), however this is not true. This mentality causes males to resent the female athletes, thus rendering it even more difficult for them to succeed. Without a shift in gender ideology, females will continue to face adversity, regardless of the amount of change that has occurred over the last 30 years. There does not need to be equality between the genders within sports, however equity must be seen, with the perception of the abilities that female athletes possess not being compared to that of males. This would aid males to not feel as threatened by females participating in sports and physical