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.
Roberta Sassatelli, in her piece Fitness Culture: Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun, gives rise to this idea of a “gender-activity matrix” (pg. 74) within fitness centers. It is here that she point o...
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...I have come to the conclusion that the Boston College gym is primarily a place the improve or show of appearances in a sexualized manner for the most part, whether it be girls dressing in tight clothes, girls working out to look better in a bikini, guys lifting to build muscle, or guys attempting to look like they know what they are doing, all participants are partaking in this situation for the sake of getting noticed by others.
Works Cited
Black, Tamara. 2008. Exercise and Fitness in a U.S. Commercial Gym.Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International.
Dworkin, Shari L. and Faye L. Wachs. 2009. Body Panic : Gender, Health, and the Selling of Fitness.New York: New York University Press.
Sassatelli, Roberta. 2010. Fitness Culture : Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun.Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Another key strength for Planet Fitness is the Judgment Free Zone philosophy. This attracts the average person instead of the body builder type that typically dominates work out centers. By adopting this policy the gym can reach a larger demographic, since majority of the Oshkosh population would be considered average in terms of work out usage. Other key strengths that are associated with the Judgment Free Zone are a free personal training, and easier to use machines so that members feel comfortable in the gym. As a part of the marketing mix we plan to implement a new member orientation to help members feel more comfortable when they come into the gym. This would greatly improve our product and is a key strength to Planet Fitness
Equinox is more than just a gym; it’s the Rolls Royce of gyms. By placing heavy emphasis on luxury and high-performance, Equinox delivers a product that parallels to the luxury lifestyle of their clientele. Its one-of-a-kind vibe combined with a sophisticated and daring attitude resonates throughout the brand and their facilities. Equinox’s marketing tactics fixates on a clean-cut design with the brand’s promise to deliver “substance with style”; this attention into reinventing their image has proven to be successful over the years. Everything from their website, social media, blog, mobile app, to their edgy ads has touch of luxury that allows them to successfully sell not only a gym membership, but a lifestyle to their clients.
...at aerobics is like to younger kids and not how it is seen through media outlets. Lastly, the clothing should be optional when performed at StAC as this will entice many more people who have self esteem or confidence issues or who just don’t like the traditional clothing worn in aerobics. . If these recommendations are acted upon than the engagement of not just males but females will advance within the following years.
The experience includes the collection of relevant knowledge, the details on how the group communicates with each other and how they develop understandings with each other. The exercise is essential to learn how the ethos, logos, and pathos appeals affect the person’s ability to become part of the discourse community and how it affects its membership. This experience being shared here will also help readers learn about my own personality and how I came to join this particular fitness gym club.
Work Cited: Brace-Govan (2004). Weighty matters: Control of women’s access to physical strength. Sociological Review, 52(4), 503-531. Fink, J. W. (2012). Crunches Give You Six-Pack Abs -- And Other Exercise Myths.
Entertainment has been an established part of the American culture almost since its founding. The types of entertainment that most Americans enjoy in today's world are going to the movies, going out to eat, and exercising. Different forms of exercise vary from running and playing sports to weight lifting. Those who enjoy weight lifting can choose to do so in the privacy of their home, in a community center like the YMCA, or in a health club. At a health club one can expect to find a wide variety of people; however, some of these people add to the downside of working out at a local health club because they can be annoying and obnoxious. Three types of these annoying, obnoxious people found at the weight room of a local health club are the show-off, the know-it-all, and the wanderer; these types can be identified by their physical appearance, their social behavior, and their attitude.
Advertisers use women that are abnormally thin, and even airbrush them to make them appear thinner. These advertisers promote a body image that is completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b). It has been instilled in these advertisers’ minds that a thinner model will sell more (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Media has a direc...
When analyzing the character Gilgamesh, the questions arose; who is he, what type of person is being exemplified, and what role does he play? The answer to these questions can be somewhat challenging to answer because his character transitions throughout the reading of the “Epic of Gilgamesh”. Over the course of the Epic, he transitions from an astringent leader of the community to someone who has more humbleness to his character. Gilgamesh’s character is transformed from power hungry, to prowess, and then a humbled individual.
When it comes to choice of where to workout it is a complete personal preference. Some people do not like the thought of people staring at them or watching them workout because they are not at the place they wish to be at yet. This is only one other thing that sets people in this discourse community apart from themselves. In some instances, this can become a disadvantage for the person pushing towards a specific goal. Certain goals can be pushed to the side or completely forgotten about because of the discomfort people feel placing themselves in a place like a gym for the first time.
Mackler, Carolyn. Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. Ed. Ophira Edut. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2004. Print.
There once lived a king, the great king of Uruk in Mesopotamia. This great leader was Gilgamesh. His preserved epic is of great significance to modern day culture. Through Gilgamesh, the fate of mankind is revealed, and the inevitable factor of change is expressed. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is a great love, followed by a lingering grief that cause a significant change in the character of Gilgamesh.
The experiment to test the social norm of what clothes to wear in the gym consisted of five participants. The three confederates, Julie Curtis, Melissa Medici, and Payge Yerkes, were in the control group and wore gym shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers. The job of the control group was to watch the other gym patrons’ reactions to the experimenter’s attire. The experimental group consisted of Julie Crance, who wore a black top, black pants and brown heels; and Danielle Bonser, who wore a black dress and black wedges. Both experimenters wore their hair down, curled and wore a lot of makeup. Crance rode the bike, while Bonser worked on the elliptical for the duration of this experiment, which took place in the Kaplan gym at Mount Saint Mary College.
In the epic poem titled The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was a king who ruled over the Sumerian city of Uruk around 2600 B.C. Gilgamesh was a very powerful and strong king, but he realized that he must use his power to help the people of Uruk. He is two-thirds god and one third human, which makes him realize that he must reconcile with the fact that he will eventually face death. He realizes that he will not reach full immortality and needs to be satisfied with his responsibilities over his people. Gilgamesh is able to reach a balance between being a king, god and man by accepting his mortality and his duties over his people of Uruk.
Personal space, body language, and overall interaction between the participants in the gym was something that I hadn't paid enough attention to in the past, from the distance I could see that their interests. The intimate couples that I noticed in the gym seemed again sought to have created a private space for them by erecting invisible barriers through their private body language directed only at each other, resulting in considerable more space between these couples and other groups of people in the gym. It was a clear and present body language of please do not bother us attitude left a sense of diffused power that would be involved power relationships that operate without covert commands and requests. The dynamics of the couple was something that was very obvious, in that I was able to note the dominant and the submissive person. The person who had a tendency to meet the needs and the one who had the ability to be demanding.
Gilgamesh was two-thirds God and one-third human that had no regards for his subjects he ruled. He mostly did as he pleased by taking advantage of his subjects, especially abusing women; therefore, he was feared rather than respected by his subjects.