Being a girl in the weight room isn't as easy as everyone thinks. There's a lot of discomfort when it comes to training with the "big guys." We live in a world where women are looked at as sexual objects, rather than people. The same goes for the gym. There are countless reasons why wearing leggings or spandex shorts at the gym has made a great workout become more of a chore. But why?
Women are objectified by men at the gym. There is a sexist attitude that can be felt throughout any gym, especially in college. Not a day goes by where I can go to the gym without feeling the pressures of someone's eyes on me. I should not be externalized simply because I am a woman at the gym. I shouldn't have to feel like the clothes I am wearing make me a target to this sexual manifestation. There's no reason for me not to wear my favorite Lululemon leggings just because a guy can't keep his eyes on himself.
This objectification keeps us women away from the gym. That is, we stick to the rooms where there is a shortage of men. Most evidently, this means the cardio rooms. This is where we women get our bad reputations. Men mock women who stick to the elliptical or the stair master. The joke is on them, though. Of course women don't feel comfortable enough to leave the protection of these cardio machines and venture to try something new. There's already an uproar to see a ripped out of her mind woman lifting weights. So what would happen if us normal folk decided to take on some bicep curls?
It's a minor issue, but it's crazy how much women are objectified in a place where they go to better themselves. We work hard to fit society's norms; norms that are ridiculously impossible to meet. The gym should be our safe haven. We want to look good, mostly for ourselves but there's always that societal notion in the back of our minds. When we have men look at us like we are meat, the urge to look our best diminishes. How is it fair that men have the right to comment on our bodies then?
There's a lot of ridicule to go around. We women want to feel like we can do anything. But there's a lot of men that are willingly pushing us down. It's something that we see in today's society. There's no reason men and women cannot work for similar goals in a similar environment, especially at the gym. Yet, there's no end to sexual perversion. There has yet to be a time when a guy didn't hit on me at the gym. There has yet to be a time when I didn't feel the stares that sent a cold shiver down my back. We, as women, deserve to feel comfortable in our bodies. We deserve to be equal in our endeavors. The gym has turned itself into a place where women feel the heat of paraphilia from men, and there is no end to be seen.
