Have you ever tried to go to the gym at Andover? Last week, I did, wearing a tank top and shorts that seemed to be the comfortable choice at first, especially as I got to the gym and saw barely anyone there. Usually, I would do ab exercises in the cardio room, but today, as it was less busy, I set my mat up near the windows by the squat racks. Within five minutes, a guy asked his friend to come spot him and moved his bench closer to my mat. His friend even asked him repeatedly why he was moving uncomfortably close to my friend and me rather than anywhere else in the empty gym, but the guy insisted. He ended up doing hip thrusts right next to my face, and I felt so disgusted that I sat up and turned away until he was done. He left soon after, but the interaction threw off the rest of my workout. I told my friends about it, and they agreed that the gym always felt exclusive. One thing is clear: Andover gym culture needs to shift to be more inclusive and welcoming to women.
A gym anywhere can be a daunting place. However, try the gym at our school, right after Athletic Development Training (ADT) finishes, and you still can’t find an open place at the machines, squat rack, or anywhere really. The first issue with our gym is that there isn’t enough space. Varsity athletes and their training often dominate the gym space. This is absolutely understandable, considering they need time to maintain their physical performance; however, it can act as a detriment to other gym-goers who were told the gym was accessible. In my experience, the gym is supervised by trainers or coaches who seem to know the athletes; often, everyone is chatting, and the teams are controlling the music, which makes the entire space seem like something you’re intruding on rather than something you’re a part of.
Another aspect to consider is the way men dominate the gym space. One of the foundational ideas of the patriarchy is that men are biologically physically stronger than women. The common attribution of strength to masculinity often means the ambience of any gym can lean very male-centered. Though I’ve learned to look inward and focus on my own personal goals, this can be very deterring to new gym-goers, especially women, who may already feel out of place in a male-driven environment. In my experience, as well as other people I’ve talked to, including female athletes, the Borden fitness center is extremely male-dominated first, and athlete-dominant second. I almost never see groups of girls from the same varsity sport training together recreationally, whereas the opposite goes for guys.
Another one of my observations of the issues as a girl in the gym is feeling self-conscious. I mean this in two ways. Firstly, a woman is more prone to being self-conscious about her body, and rather than attending the gym to feel good, be healthy, or train for a sport, it is often about aesthetics. I myself am a victim of that. Women often associate the gym with weight loss rather than muscle gain and are therefore more present in the cardio room. Due, once again, to the patriarchy, women tend to be afraid of muscle and looking too masculine so as not to ruin their appeal. I personally hate cardio, but still found myself fleeing to the cardio room to find calm and quiet amidst the overwhelming masculinity of the lifting room. It is there that I saw most of the girls who happened to be there. Secondly, a woman is also prone to being self-conscious about gym clothes. Due to objectification, women worry about how they look while working out and if they should “cover up.” Especially in a gym that is always occupied by men like ours, it can be even more uncomfortable and even deter girls from going.
Here are my proposed solutions to Andover’s gym structure. First, to avoid exclusivity, our gym shouldn’t be split into cardio and strength, but instead be split into a recreational gym and a sports gym. They should still remain fluid, so that any athlete can still use the rec gym in their spare time. However, if they are specifically training, whether it be an unofficial captain’s practice or the entirety of the Strength and Conditioning group, they should use the sports gym, so that the rec gym becomes more of a diverse space on campus, and newcomers can feel more welcome. I don’t think anyone should stop training as much as they are and having as much fun with their teammates, but I do think the centrality of the gym to these sports can be very intimidating, especially to women. My second solution is something I’ve spoken to my friends, teachers, and house counselors about several times. I think that there should be a day each week or month where the gym is typically less busy anyway, and it should be converted to an all-female gym for that day. This is to allow women to be more comfortable in their choice of clothing, whether for religious reasons or not, and feel more supported. Typically, this idea of an area designated for a single group can be tricky. However, these types of spaces are legally supported in Massachusetts because anti-discrimination laws handle sex slightly differently. Having this time every so often would invite so many new girls to the gym, and hopefully, they can realize they have support in these spaces, even when they do seem alone. I think encouraging female newcomers to try strength training as well as cardio would be a focus, and even having a pilates class running during the hours of the event might be helpful. In practice, these events may not be as feasible with getting administrative approval, and it would be extremely dependent on student-body feedback. The complex and multifaceted concept of gender may also be difficult for non-conforming students, and the line between “training for a sport” and “normal strength training” is very arbitrary.
All in all, I feel that our current gym culture hasn’t felt entirely inclusive or safe to me. My wish for my next years at Andover is to implement solutions like the ones written about above to change this. If you are someone new to the gym or if you want to start working out, regardless of what you’ve heard about gym culture here, please try it out. I was that person who was deathly scared of the training room, but also desperately wanted to do strength training. Fear should never beat out curiosity, and isolation should never take the place of community. If you are a girl who uses our Andover gym now, I want you to know you are not alone, and come say hi if you ever see me. It is my hope that Andover’s vibrant and diverse community starts to rear its head a little more in the recreational fitness spaces on campus, because exercising every day is key to a healthy life, which every student deserves.
