More than a year has passed since I last visited the gym. This visit, for a quick workout, was sufficient to discourage me from life.
A great deal has been said about muscular men staring at women from behind weight machines, which makes us uncomfortable. However, they were not my concern; it was the women.
As I walked on a treadmill, two individuals to my left were performing squats. They were wearing full makeup, including false eyelashes, and had smartphones poised on the floor to record the event.
Apologies in advance, but the moves they were performing in skintight bodystockings were gynecologically explicit.
Another attractive young woman was rearranging her cleavage incessantly in the mirror.
I didn’t know where to look, but I assumed it was for the benefit of the women’s social media followers, who devour the airbrushed videos and photographs they post.
I felt suddenly self-conscious while wearing ratty leggings and a T-shirt to bed.
I was the only woman in attendance who wasn’t wearing a barely-there sheer ensemble designed to accentuate the breasts, buttocks, and abdomen.
I ran for only 15 minutes before hurriedly leaving and resolving to never set foot there again.
I’m not alone in my gym phobia. A study published last week revealed that fifty percent of British women have not exercised regularly in the past year. This compares to slightly more than one-third of men, according to a survey of 8,000 adults conducted by the nonprofit organization Nuffield Health.
What are the reasons? Some have speculated that this is because we shoulder the majority of time-consuming obligations, such as child care. But I wonder whether anyone else was turned off by the type of carry-on baggage I was forced to deal with.
Most people are familiar with the term toxic masculinity, which describes the violent and dominant behavior of some men. It may be argued that the female form is more dangerous because it is less recognizable.
However, just as toxic masculinity causes males to view each other as adversaries, toxic femininity requires that we also engage in ceaseless competition.
Who triumphs? The woman with the finest shape or the most flawless skin and hair? Or the one who ends up with him?
I found that everything is happening at the gym.
Some may ask, “What’s wrong with young women wanting to get in shape and look good?” I have no objections to that. But I don’t see it that way.
As I did yesterday, a Google search for “women’s gym gear” yields images of young women wearing revealing attire. However, it is how the models show the clothing that bothers me, not the clothing itself.
Some are squatting, with their backs to the camera and their buttocks extended, while pouting suggestively over their shoulder. Others spread their legs and thrust their chests apart. I wondered what type of exercise they were meant to be performing. This bothers me not because I’m a prude – it’s wonderful when women feel confident and attractive – but because it’s hypocritical. It pretends to promote health and fitness, but what it’s saying is, “Look at my body.”
Young men contemplate sex upon viewing this, to put it bluntly. And research indicates that the more kids watch such images, the more they perceive women as objects. Therefore, anyone arguing that all of this empowers women is simply incorrect.
Young girls frequently go to considerable measures to obtain a certain body type to fit in. The only way for most women over the age of 13 to acquire flat, toned stomachs is to engage in extensive exercise and consume a very restricted diet.
And study indicates that women who view numerous photos of allegedly flawless female bodies are more prone to worry and despair than those who do not.
In the gym, though, the pouting, Lycra-clad spectacle is particularly off-putting.
Numerous public health attempts to encourage physical activity among women have failed. The same obstacle consistently prevents us from exercising: we are self-conscious about our appearance when exercising. According to a recent survey, around one in five women do not exercise because they fear becoming “red and sweaty” in front of others.
Numerous of my friends who struggle with their weight have purchased home exercise bikes at exorbitant prices so that they never have to enter a gym. And if anything is going to make you feel bad about your appearance, it’s a beautiful fitness model with washboard abs who barely breaks a sweat. I am aware that some may interpret this as a blatantly antifeminist assault. However, I cannot fault those women in the gym. They are victims of our sex-obsessed culture who do what they believe is necessary to be accepted.
Naomi Wolf, a feminist novelist, tells me, “Playboy bunnies used to be all the rage, but it’s now considered unwoke for guys to ogle them.” Perhaps the fitness industry is a new, guilt-free method for guys to view semi-pornographic imagery. These women are athletic, therefore it is OK.
At least the Playboy bunnies were honest about their products. This new version is completely dishonest. But, of course, this is the problem with toxic femininity: the last thing you want to do is be truthful about the extent you’re willing to go to.
It’s similar to Hollywood celebrities who undergo plastic surgery and then say that yoga, a good outlook, and drinking enough water are the reasons they have scarcely aged in forty years. These lies are intended to discredit other women: “Oh look, the laws of nature and biology were defied by my attractiveness.” And it is poisonous.
Wolf is likewise hesitant to implicate the women in the issue.
She states, “Some individuals feel uneasy and helpless when confronted with visions of artistic perfection, while others are unaffected.”
I’m not quite convinced I concur. Today, it appears that this pornified appearance is pretty widespread in the fitness industry. It is hardly surprising that the primary reason most women exercise is to alter their body form.
For many, though, this is not an effective motivator; enjoyment is. The level of satisfaction we derive from an activity is by far the most influential factor in ensuring our continued participation.
Renee McGregor, a sports dietitian and author of the athletics performance guidebook More Fuel You, states, “I want more women to find enjoyment in movement.
I enjoy running in the countryside with a group of friends because it allows me to socialize and expend pent-up energy. Too frequently, folks view the gym as a punishment-like checkbox activity. Lifting weights as others gaze at themselves in the mirror is the furthest thing from exercise I can imagine.
Ladies, I implore you to take a walk with a friend. Jog with a dog (or another dog). As I have done, you should join a friendly tennis team. Swim in the brilliant sunshine and dance!
And perhaps stop photographing yourself at the gym.
