Gym Observation Report

My visits to the gym gave me a lot of insight as to how space in the gym can be gendered and how this may be a result of the social construction of gender. In the gym, my observations indicated that weight-lifting equipment and free weights were used more so by men than women. In the instances that I visited, I only saw one woman utilizing weights. This may be due to the mere aggressiveness and masculinity that is associated with lifting weights, and by a woman engaging in these acts, she may be seen as transgressing gender norms. Furthermore, a woman engaging in weightlifting activities may be seen as lesbian or transgressing heteronormative standards. Moreover, a woman lifting weights is not seen as a product of her natural ability and talents, but can only result from n her ability of trying to be like a “man”. However, the intimidation does not only lie within the act of lifting weights, but the mere space of where weights are can be intimidating to women. There were no women within the …show more content…
For example, a type of study that could be conducted is to examine how men would react if a fitness class was taught by a woman or a man. Results would then focus on comparing the gender of the instructor and if men were comfortable in the class, as well as to see how willing they’d be to attend the class again. In addition, the same could be done for women, and the same responses and data could be collected. This does not necessarily have to only take place in the setting of a gym, it can extend to sport teams as well, to see how a change in the gender of the coach can influence team participation as well as comfort. This would possibly give some insight as to why a gendered space exists in gyms, as well as to examine why and how gender of coaches affects the performance or participation of male or female sports