Callie Sher
Fifteen, twenty, and thirty pound racks of dumbbells placed on one side, lockers and mirrors shaping the other, and the windows all work together to form a barrier and section off the weight training section. The weight-lifting area at Ernie Davis at Syracuse University is located directly in the center of the gym. It is possible that one could say the facility is actually cut into three distinct parts; one for free weights, another for cardio machines/mats, and the studio. However, this is meant to be only one space. The majority of men are found with the weights and the women on cardio machines or mats. This section is privately held in the back and excluded. The studio is usually used for classes or empty. At Ernie, college students are always free to utilize all the equipment openly. Women entering the facility do not usually expect to use the weight room or see other women present in it either. The designers of Ernie Davis gym may not have realized the invisible “caution tape” posted when constructing this place. The physical construct of the gym tends to facilitate to already existing gender differentiation. This creates an intimidation of men towards women utilizing this space, because they do not feel they are welcome there.
The weight racks, mirrors, lockers, and windows create such a separation between the weights and cardio machines, as well as men and women. The area creates an unwelcoming sense of influence. However, the gym as a whole is not so. The weight racks and immovable objects seem like they have been strategically placed to give the feel of an enclosed and unwanted women section. Dana Senderoff, a female employee at Ernie Davis workout facility, speaks about her experience at the gym. Senderoff exclaims, “I feel intimidated to lift weight in this gym. I usually take the weights and go into the studio…yet, when I see girls lifting weights in the weight lifting area, I’m like ‘Wow! Good for Her’”. The areas have now split, forcing women and other pushed out by the barriers. Clearly, Senderoff experienced this as she stays away and manages to do the workout meant for the weight lifting area, specifically, in the studio. This place is developing into three different sections instead of one combined gym for all to feel comfortable to use.
The men stationed within these boundaries are more commonly seen as trying to “bulk up” r gain muscle. That is not quite the same goal as women. On the contrary, their initiative is to slim down and lose weight. One would feel uncomfortable entering the opposite environment. If you stay on the outside of the weight shelves, where the cardio machines and mats lay, the women become more comfortable and less judged. Instead of worrying about being unaccepted by others, there is other equipment spaced across the gym with TV’s to focus one’s attention on his/her own workout with others aiming to do the same. Plainly, there is a relation between the barriers cutting these spaces into sections and the power gender.
Senderoff agrees that the weight room is cut off to make its own area without distractions. The framing objects act as a barrier, because they force people to pick their route to their section. A quick glance at the weight training area tells the person to get ready for strength and conditioning with intensity and intimidation of men. Looking in the other direction, there is an appeal to one’s looking for a cardio training workout, usually the women. If you ask Senderoff if she would like to work out and use the “men’s section”, she will freely exclaim, “I can’t take it. Men are a complete distraction in that section”. She evidently feels that these barriers keep gender differences separated, but is it for the good of both genders to keep away from being distracted? This way, they can work on their own intended workout, rather it be bulking up and gaining weight versus slimming down and losing weight.
Each individual is looking to focus his/her attention on anything; usually something of interest to pass the time in the gym. So, as the men are working on bulking up, they can pick out the girls working on slimming down and vice versa. Just like their genders are the complete opposite, so are their aims. They evaluate each girl on the treadmill and direct their attention to the one with the speed up to seven miles per hour and up on an incline of two. On his first set, he tries to impress anyone that may be judging him just as he is to the girl. Therefore, he uses 200 pounds while focusing on his motivation: the girl on the treadmill. She, however, is on her own machine separated by others so she can create her own section within the cardio area. This way, her area is focused and controlled to her comfort level to keep her motivated.
Generally, girls’ goals are to slim down, her goal is to lose three pounds and make an eight minute mile. She’s worried about her own body image outside of the gym so she is normal, which creates her own motivation. Yet, she is completely judged in the gym, even at the exact moment by the man with the 200 pound barbell raised above his head, where she is working on not being judged. She comes prepared to work out and this involves apparel as well. She wears a tank top clinging to the skin of her body, showing her slimness and curves. Her yoga pants grab her butt and legs enhancing her sculpture. And, of course, the Nike running shoes match the outfit. The man is in a complete daze as he starts at the top of her head and watches her hair swish from left to right. Though, we all know it doesn’t take long before he goes down to her butt. As she takes each stride, he critiques the booty and evaluates it in his mind, “So voluptuous!” Again, she is being judged at a place where the concept/goal is not to be judged. If the girl knew this, she would probably be more uncomfortable in the section she escaped to get away from the feeling.
Jessica Salvatore and Jeanne Marecek study gender in the gym by experimenting and comparing the evaluation concerns of the opposite sex. Both created an experiment focused to understand “Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting”. These women created four studies to understand why women are less likely than men to lift weights, they noticed women “Feeling watched, scrutinized, or negatively judged by others can be strongly aversive” (2010). Their focus, just like the attention in the gym, were strictly on evaluation concerns surrounding women. It became clear that evaluation concerns were a huge factor in the gym. Women looked to stay away from men’s assessments as they stayed clear of where the majority of men are. Therefore, women could create their own section with their own barriers to enforce no one to come into their area. A place made for them and their comfort. The man staring at the girl’s physicality is doing exactly what the girl desires not to have. She came to the gym and created her own section in hopes of avoiding this contact. This is probably a reason for many women driven away from the weight room. A place where someone is working on not getting critiqued is obtaining that exact notion in a place meant to stop judgments.
Gender barriers are created in the gym to give places to people where they can feel more comfortable. Even closer, their own machine can focus on their own desires. Their desires, however, vary in range; beginning with the focus of a different girl on a treadmill. She already feels intimidated to go to the weight room and searching for a place of comfort. So, she stations herself on a treadmill on the left side, one closer to the lockers and away from the windows and paths of traffic. Her intent is to get in and out of the gym feeling comfortable as fast as she can without any distractions. A distraction consists of being watched and judged by others. That will make the workout take twice as long, because she will not be motivated to stay. So, she focuses her attention straight ahead of her on a TV. She fits the two circular headphones into her left ear and then the right. She touches her I-Pod and raises the volume and connects with her thoughts. Her music rings threw her ears and drowns out the surroundings. Her focus is nothing less than E! on the TV and the pumping-up music. She’s not interested in what a boy might’ve commented as he walked by or the pressure from others. Instead, her senses, her body, and all focus are directly within her comfortable section she formed for herself. Just like forming her section, she can also concentrate on forming her body. Salvatore and Marecek enforce that sectioning by gender appears to be a crucial factor at the gym, “Outside of such controlled settings, however, people often respond to evaluation of avoiding setting and activities that might evoke such concerns” (2010). The barriers do separate genders to force own areas of comfort. This way, being judged and evaluated stays outside and sectioned in your area is a person’s comfort without concerns of the surroundings. This could continue to push people completely out of the gym and entice them enough to come. The gym, then, is failing in its’ “job”.
Linking the opposite sex, people wonder “I hope I see him out tonight”, or “I wish he was in my class”, as they are in the gym and critiquing each other. Evaluating people’s appearance and comparing how built they are or muscular is normal in the gym. The wondering eyes never stop. This does not only happen between opposite genders, though, but to same sex as well. That’s a comparison that is possibly more intimidating and more than being compared by the opposite. Then, why do we feel more comfortable working out with others of the same gender? Do they like to compete in hopes of “slimming down” more than the girl on the next cardio machine? Next to the girl on the treadmill is another Syracuse University student. She is also on a run. The one on the first treadmill does not realize the girl’s eyes glance to her machine as the red letters read the time, distance, and pace. She is determined to keep her pace faster than the girl next to her. Then, continue for a longer time too. This way the girl knows she will slim down more than the next. Her focus is on the competition and hoping to be the one that they guy with the barbells above his head is staring at her legs rather than the others. This girl is focused on the attention she will get inside and outside of the gym by always competing. Others, her motivation, are her focus. Her barriers do not stop around her and by her senses. Instead, she wants the focus of the entire gym. The focus moves from the goal at a gym to the outside boundaries of a person’s own barrier.
