I believe that our society is now in a day and age in which men and women can exercise in the same place. Looking at the gym situation on this campus, however, one might assume that gender segregation was a mandate.

Walking into the South 40 Fitness Center, it becomes obvious fairly quickly that it is a “girlie gym.” The weight selection is less than impressive, and most of the space is taken up by steppers and elliptical machines. Having used that gym for my first two years at school, I know from personal experience that males are rarely seen in this aerobic wasteland. Having made the switch to the other side of campus this year, I’ve noticed that few females will venture into the Athletic Complex. Being that I am a female, I can provide insight as to why that is: walking into that weight room is scary. Every guy that’s in there lifting weights turns around to look at any girl that walks in because female patronage of the weight room is so infrequent. Additionally, I almost feel, upon walking into the weight room, as though I’m entering a dark alley late at night. The lighting makes for an almost sketchy atmosphere, and the big buff men standing around staring don’t help make me feel any safer.

I don’t understand. If Bally Total Fitness can create a place where men and women join together to get in shape, why can’t we? Why can’t we man up the South 40 gym and feminize the AC a little so that both genders feel comfortable frequenting both fitness facilities? I think this could simply be achieved by adding a few more weight options to the South 40 gym with more room for free weights, and adding a few more elliptical machines to the fitness center in the AC, fixing the lighting in the weight room and adding a few more machines that can be found in the South 40 facility. Since we have the luxury of having a gym near each residence area on campus, they should be the exact same gym, and they should charge the same amount to use each, because the inequality in price is also a huge problem.

I paid $35 to get a “fitness pass” to the AC for a single semester. This seems a little gender biased, because using the weight room is free. Statistically speaking, females are much more likely to do cardio than males, who more often than not, only want to lift weights. That means that in a lot of cases, women have to pay to work out and men don’t. Perhaps if they charged everyone to use the weight room and fitness center alike, they could use the money to make some general repairs around the AC.

In addition to the AC’s gender specific faults, there are many things that could be improved upon. The weight room alone is in need of much repair, some of the weight machines are broken, and the free weights are completely outdated. Also, the equipment rental is ludicrous. There are nine racquetball courts, but only about eight rackets. Seeing as how two people would be using rackets on any given court, the math doesn’t quite seem to add up. If the courts are available for use, shouldn’t the AC provide the necessary equipment to do so?

Working out should not have to be such a pain. Males and females should feel comfortable working out in the same room, and with a few necessary adjustments, this is a realistic possibility. Don’t sweat it. Just sweat.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Forum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.