Monday, January 30, 2006
so I have a confession. I do step aerobics. once a week, on mondays, before squash. it's fun. my instructors name is dawn and she is this burly 50ish woman. I don't have to motivate myself unlike regular machine exercise, and my heartrate hits target pretty consistently. I have been told to do things my whole athletic life so that feels normal. and I don't have to deal with all those overcompetitive dudes with no game and all the time wasting of rec leagues and pickup sports. But the thing I find most curious about it is how gendered the space is. it is all women except for me and some pudgy guy who often slinks out halfway through. throughout the hour, dawn growls at us about how our boyfriends tell us we're perfect until we get married, then they want us to work it and stay slim. She talks about which muscles increase our cleavage and which exercises are designed for bikini wear. The women waiting for the next class always titter at me, and I am too tall for all the jumpropes. I feel actively unwelcome. I sortof dig this because I am plenty fit to keep up in class and I feel like my presence has a bit of subversive flair. and following intricate and changing commands from the instructor when tired is a lot like rowing. But I am curious if spaces like that still exist in other places? girls, are there still lots of highly, overtly gendered spaces that you enter? what does aerobics mean? is it the rawest form of individual vanity fitness, or is it a community of women bonding under the oppression of appearance norms? Should I respect one of a few safe female spaces? or is it just fucking aerobics, and it's free, and there is no use overthinking it?
# posted by 8yearoldsdude @ 11:32 PM 
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You asked the girls, but my wife used to teach aerobics and also was a participant for years...and I have lots of female friends who do it. It is solely individual vanity fitness -- no bonding involved. But of course, if a good looking man enters the domain, then it becomes mutually competitive. So, you are overthinking it, but trust me, you have caught the eye of several participants, and your presence requires them to take extra time to prepare for class. You're right, its just fucking aerobics, at least for the lucky few.
By chance do the instructor's commands involve, "Let me see you 1-2-step! I love it when you 1-2-step?"
overly gendered male space? try any bar before 10 p.m. (esp. these darn irish pubs) or any football/basketball/baseball game. or the weights side of a gym or a video game/comic book store. Or the entire state of Texas. Except the experience is different - feels more like being a fluffy bunny walking into a den of wolves (even for me! seriously. bizarre.) So there you go. Oh, and I imagine lots of corporate boardrooms feel pretty male-dominated. But I work in the land of enviro-ladies, so I wouldn't really know.
so I also have a confession - I sometimes do aerobics too (sculpt class, please)! And as a former DIII athlete, I'm always a little embarrassed. That said, it makes me feel better to see guys who look like they're in relatively good shape struggling through it. In terms of bonding, however, there is very little - most of the women at my gym concentrate a lot of their energy on being thin. So aerobics becomes very competitive. In fact, I have friends who go to all-women gyms and they have said that it only fosters cattiness (think all-girls school for grownups?)
Anyway, I say go! You probably validate some women's sense of how tough they are. Just make sure your thighs don't get too big for your speedo :) And don't do bridge pose while on your flow.
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Anyway, I say go! You probably validate some women's sense of how tough they are. Just make sure your thighs don't get too big for your speedo :) And don't do bridge pose while on your flow.
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