Breathe in and out, headphones on full volume, sweat dripping down your forehead, and the burn running through your bicep. It is a unique feeling; something that seems uncomfortable, but it takes you to a new world. The gym can be either a sanctuary, or a place people dread; for me it is both. Caring for your health is an ongoing, and intentional action; it is not just pushing through reps, or eating the right foods, but is a mindset that changes constantly. For women, health and fitness is a layered battle that takes more than just an internal push; the female body has become this unknown object in society, constantly being under researched and overlooked. This lack of recognition has desensitized people with the view that women need to look, act, and behave a certain way; yet through all this, people have the same standards for women based on how the male body works. With all of this said, recognition is so important, and just noticing these issues, and stigmas can make a huge difference. National Women’s Health and Fitness Day gives us the perfect excuse to take that time to learn, and analyze our day-to-day lives.
The gym is my therapy; it is the place I go when I do not know how else to release my emotions. It has been something I can always rely on, and have goals that I can constantly try reaching. It sounds amazing, but it comes with its challenges. Unlike how social media presents it, it is not as simple as just lifting, and then heading out; it takes so much motivation and self-discipline to start. Not to discredit the men that face their own struggles with getting motivation and courage, but the gym is not a place socially designed for women. The combined struggle to fight stereotypes, find the right clothes, or even use the equipment is an added element, and something men cannot fully grasp. It takes strength to start; it takes the courage to walk into a space made by men, for men, as a woman with no clue where to begin. When doing even the smallest amount of research you can find that nearly every single piece of gym equipment we use is designed by men, with the average male body in mind. It is not just being uncomfortable with the place itself, but also how we are viewed both inside and outside the environment. Society as a whole has this idea that people who identify as women cannot be too muscular, or they become masculine. From personal experience, I have heard countless women mention how they worry about lifting because their arms will get “too big”. It is okay that not everyone wants the same aesthetic; however, there is an obvious stigma that has been created due to sex based stereotyping.
Women have not just been severely underrepresented in lifting and workout culture, but also in medical research – with majority men being tested for most developments in the field. It was just over 30 years ago when women started being commonly used in research; taking until 1986 to revisit a policy that excluded women from clinical studies, and finally in 1993, Congress passed a law that required the inclusion of women. This issue has slowed down the process of women receiving adequate healthcare, with new studies coming out almost every day finding differences in how the female, and male sex react to medications or illness. It is not just a problem with representation in the medical fields, but a lack of media exposure to different body types. Every few decades a new “ideal” body type is pushed in the public eye. This makes it so women think that this new fad is the “health standard” they should be achieving. The combination of these issues align in so many ways. Women go to the doctor, and have an average that they are told is healthy, but then they turn to their phones, and they physically look nothing like the “health standards” posted online. However; when talking about health, it is so critical to do independent research, and never just assume your first source is right.
With all of this said, it is important to me that I acknowledge that it is not only men who are to be blamed for everything; because it is a societal issue that everyone continues to enforce with mindsets, and actions. The female body continues to be sexualized in modern media as a selling point, and we proceed to use all these pre-established stereotypes, and standards without ever making a change to how we talk about these topics. Mindset is everything, and normalizing how we talk about women can change a lot. Using your time to rethink phrases like “I will look weak” or “I cannot eat __ cause I did not work out today” is important. Just take the small, and simple first step of asking yourself, “why am I saying this?”, and “where does this thought originate from?”. It is hard, and words are much simpler than the emotion and context connected to them. However, the more we pause and correct ourselves, the better we can get at believing in the things we are saying; this starts to change our actions and perspectives. All this is just the tip of a massive iceberg that has nearly infinite talking points, so take today—and hopefully more—to adjust your view on women’s health and fitness. Starting conversations and doing some base level research can go a long way, making a slow change to a big issue.