Gender, Gym, and Cartography

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. -Arnold Schwarzenegger Over the years, Arnold Schwarzenegger has become much more than a house hold name. For those who listened, Arnold has provided invaluable life lessons like the one quoted above. The question then arises, why should any of us follow this advice? What gives him the right to define strength and how its achieved? Fortunately, his list of achievements towers over that of most. Beginning his road to success at age twenty, Schwarzenegger won the title of Mr. Universe after bodybuilding for less than five years. He would go on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times. Arnold evolved his career by becoming an iconic Hollywood action film star. At this point, the average person would probably be satisfied with their success. Arnold saw more potential in himself. Despite adversity, he became the governor of California for two terms. It would be easy to say that Arnold found the true meaning of strength during his years as a professional bodybuilder. He spoke often of the power the mind has over the body; the way it can overcome the pain that leads to true progress. This sense of patience and dedication lead Arnold to rise to success in any career he chose. He understood that strength itself varied among each individual and the way it was achieved was just as scattered. Motivation for Schwarzenegger was his goal to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world. Without this idea constantly keeping him working as hard as he could, he absolutely would not be as successful as he is today.

Though Arnolds goals seem rather lofty, they provided him with the motivation he needed to improve himself. Taking a step back and looking at less serious bodybuilders reveals a stark change in motivation. More specifically, if one were to take a look at men and women in their college years, what sort of ideas and goals would push them to improve themselves? Beyond that, what are the limiting factors? Answering these questions involves analyzing much more than gender roles and social stereotypes. One must take a meticulous look at how space itself impacts the lives of those within it.

I
Understanding the way space is utilized involves consideration of seemingly varying factors brought together through spatial metaphors. In Spatial Metaphors, Spatial Theory, and Thirdspace, Nedra Reynolds notes that space is usually described or represented by making comparisons with familiar objects or ideas. The example she uses is the way in which an academic discipline is commonly referred to as a field. This metaphor is meant to familiarize. With that being said, space is not generally a concept that is analyzed for rhetorical value; but when it is, space becomes a living, breathing being capable of taking hold of ones imagination and intellect. Considering Recreational & Wellness Centers on college campuses makes this analysis less difficult. They are massive, heavily used spaces. What is even more interesting though, are the habits and motivations of each individual within these gyms. The manner in which the gym is structured coupled with preexisting stereotypes creates an environment heavily engrained in gender separation. Every day, large portions of which become crowded with males or females. As much as we would like to that gender specific habits have ceased in the gym, they are still incredibly obvious. Though gym employees and

users may not directly support this idea, they cannot deny the influence that stereotypes have on their perception. Interviews of University of Central Florida gym employees revealed points of view from within the UCFs Rec & Wellness Center. Joseph Wolf mentioned that society puts pressure on the female figure and that (women) wont go near free weights. Though seemingly very generalized, these ideas absolutely support the way most women utilize the space. If someone were to tour the Rec & Wellness Center for the first time, they would see the vast percentage of males in the free weight area, and the vast percentage of females in the cardio area. These sub-spaces, so to speak, are on two completely different levels of the gym. This creates a physical barrier as well as a metaphorical one. This leads us back to the issue of motivation. Why exactly are the habits of males and females so different when it comes to working out? In the scholarly paper, Gender In The Gym: Evaluation Concerns As Barriers To Women's Weight Lifting," J. Salvatore discusses the physical and psychological benefits of weight lifting and exercise in general. Salvatore provides insight on how well-toned muscle can increase metabolism and cushion the body from the effects of illness and slow the normal process of aging. These are health benefits that can be enjoyed by both men and women. Ana Chalabaev, in her paper, The Influence Of Sex Stereotypes And Gender Roles On Participation And Performance In Sport And Exercise: Review And Future Directions, examines gender stereotypes from varying points of view including biological, psychological, and psychosocial. What seems to be most useful is the manner in which this source identifies physiological differences among men and women but argues that they are not enough to support sex differences in sport performance and participation. Sex differences are not as important as they appear: sex has been shown to predict only 5% of the variance in physical abilities. She

argues that the real villain here is whats known as Stereotype Threat. This states that the mere presence of stereotypes can drastically impact a persons behavior and actions. Just like the concept of space, activities can be perceived and conceived. This psychological analysis examines the way certain activities are perceived to be "masculine, feminie, or neutral." This is a great explanation as to why weight lifting is associated with masculinity and why cardiovascular exercise is associated with femininity. Kimberly Hivelys You Throw Like a Girl, expands on these ideas. It focuses on a study regarding athletic ability taking careful notice of a previously mentioned topic, stereotype threat. The study has both men and women performing athletic tasks of moderate difficulty. When the presence of negative stereotypes are made clear to the women, they perform noticeably worse. Without stereotype threat, the performance of men and women was almost indistinguishable.

II

Even so, there is still an obvious debate regarding how much influence the structure of the gym has on workout habits. It seems that the structure merely contributes to the omnipresent social stereotypes, not the other way around. First off, the motivations of many exercisers exists in their desire to be more physically attractive. Krista Munroe-Chandler discusses this in Pumping Iron: The Social Advantages Of Weight Training. The study focuses on how exercisers and weight lifters of different calibers are viewed on a scale of attractiveness and personality. It seems as though a shift in the space

itself would have little impact on this notion. Going back to the employee interviews, however, Alexis Sykes recommended moving cardio equipment downstairs near the free weights. In the same way that women can benefit from weight lifting, men can benefit from cardiovascular exercise. Among interviewees, this was a common opinion. Once this was established, they discussed possible fixes. Misconceptions among normal gym users could be swayed using signs and messages displayed around the gym. In the end, this would probably be the best way to break down the gender habits present in the gym. If people knew how they could better improve themselves, there is a good chance they would take the advice. More than anything else though, this is a social issue at heart. People will always have varying motives, especially when it comes to self-improvement.

The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character. - Arnold Schwarzenegger