As it poured outside, nearly 30 women gathered in the upstairs gym for the first-ever women’s-only gym time, also advertised as Pink and Push-ups Fitness Initiative. Despite the colorful name, this initiative is intended to provide female students with the opportunity to work out without having to worry about guys inappropriately gazing at them. In the process of getting this initiative on the ground, freshman senator E.J. Hannah stated, “The Campus Recreation was very helpful and receptive to this idea. They are aware that for some women exercising in a male-dominated space may be uncomfortable.”
As much as I see the necessity of creating a safe space for women to work out without fear of being judged or catcalled, the trainer, hired by Campus Recreation, appeared to be operating under the assumption that the majority of the participants were there to learn how to use the machines rather than workout in a more comfortable setting. She said, and I quote, “I am guessing most of you have never been inside a weight room and those of you who have been are only familiar with the treadmill.” Rather than inquiring about the skill levels of the people in the room, the trainer conjectured that the participants were mostly amateurs.
Oftentimes, people do misuse the machines, which, in turn, compromises the desired results or leads to broken equipment. This phenomenon is not specific to women, however. By providing guidance solely to one sex regarding the technicalities of using the machines, men are ultimately deprived of that information. In fact, it would be judicious to mandate a required training session (for those wishing to use the gym) at the beginning of each semester to ensure that all students have a comprehensive understanding of how the machines work. This would be both feasible and cost-effective as students would be less likely to damage machinery. This training session would not be dissimilar to the information session offered by the library about how to utilize Stevens research databases. Not only would it encourage more people, especially women, to frequent the Stevens gym, but it would guarantee that everyone is maximizing their use of the space.
Notably, the turn-out was rather successful and many participants expressed that they intend to continue attending future sessions. Erin Harrison, a freshman who attended the 90-minute-long session, stated, “I am glad Stevens is taking into account the female-to-male ratio and designating time exclusively for women to exercise. However, the trainer’s approach was somewhat condescending.” Another freshman, Amanda Schmitt, stated, “I found her [the trainer] to be extremely knowledgeable and helpful, though misinformed about the nature of the event.” E.J. Hannah has confirmed that Campus Recreation will make necessary adjustments with the trainer for future sessions to remedy this false notion that the participants are completely clueless about the machines in the weight room.
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