“'Cause That's What Girls Do”

Abstract

While both men and women work out in contemporary gyms, popular conceptions of the gym as a masculine institution continue. The authors examine organizational processes within a chain of women-only gyms to explore whether and how these processes have feminized the historically masculine gym. They examine the physical setting and equipment, the established procedures for customers' use of machines, and the interactional styles of employees as components of the organization's structure. They argue that the organization's use of technology and labor mobilizes customers' participation in a feminized organizational culture of nonjudgmental and noncompetitive sociability. Organizational processes create a context that fosters gendered interactions and identities among customers. The organizational context calls gendered behavior into play such that the performance is naturalized. The processes outlined may occur in other cases of organizational recoding and suggest ways that transposable gender practices may change the gender coding of an institution yet leave gender hierarchies intact.

How Are University Gyms Used by Staff and Students? A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Gym Use, Motivation, and Communication in Three UK Gyms

“…The findings surrounding gender from the work of Coen et al, [44] and also Dworkin [45], suggest, as Johnston (1998: p. 250) argues, "[h]istorically, entry by women into gyms-an exclusively male environment-was not easily achieved" [46]. In addition, in the university gyms in our study, it would seem to remain the case for most users that "while both men and women work out in contemporary gyms, popular conceptions of the gym as a masculine institution continue" [47]. It is important, however, to stress that many men in the university gym environment do not simply enact the dominant stereotypes about gendered division of space and go beyond the drive for muscularity to also include the reduction of body fat [48].…”

Bibliometric Analysis of Fitness Equipment: How Scientific Focuses Affect Life-Cycle Approaches and Sustainable Ways of Development

“…Males clearly prefer strength equipment or free weights, whereas females tend to opt for cardiovascular or 'selectorised' (specific strength muscular focus) physical amenities [22]. Additional sex information has also been structured in relation to the interaction styles of employees as components of the organisation's structure [23]. Connected to the final consumer, the aim of sector professionals is to embrace the upgrading of health facilities with the maintenance of existing equipment as well as new purchases to keep ahead of the competition while maintaining high delivery of quality in relation to the programmes which requires thoughtful evaluation [9].…”

Parkour, Masculinity, and the City

“…That is, surfers come to identify themselves as "locals" at particular beaches, and this identification has significance in relationship to male friends, as well as men from other places (also see Evers, 2009). Alternatively, Leeds Craig and Liberti (2007) detail how the physical setting of a gym can help de-masculinize the workout environment by orienting the equipment to allow for conversations during exercise and focus users' attention onto likeminded (i.e., feminine) others.…”