Gender Roles in the Gym

Murano, Grace. The 2nd best female bodybuilder on the IFBB ranking list. 25 October 2014. 8 Women Before and After Steroids. Web. 14 April 2015.

Recently in America, being fit has become popular in our culture. As a result, many gyms have been established and are becoming very prosperous. As a gym member, I have noticed that gender roles are still applied, even with something as simple as being fit. Gender roles are social constructs that determine how males and females think, speak, dress, and interact within the context of society. Gender roles are learned by the behaviors and attitudes your culture asserts appropriate for your sex. These gender schemas are deeply embedded cognitive frameworks regarding what defines masculine and feminine. In America, being extremely muscular is considered masculine, but it is not as socially acceptable for a woman to be exceedingly muscular. A woman can be trim but not too muscular or else they will be classified as manly.  Even the types of exercises in the gym can even be divided into masculine or feminine. The type of exercise that is considered the most masculine is usually weight lifting. It is very rare to see females working out in the lifting area. The type of exercise that is considered the most feminine is cardio or stretching. Some men do use the cardio or stretching machines; although, they are usually not as muscular as the men that work out in the lifting portion of the gym.