The gym can be a communal space for everyone and anyone who wants to either live a healthier life or simply have fun. Unfortunately, there are social barriers preventing many from enjoying themselves.
Without fail, anyone who goes on social media or sees an advertisement is presented with unrealistic body standards. This problem is prevalent for both men and women, overweight and skinny. Even as kids, body-shaming is far too common and normalized, setting a terrible precedent for the future. Going so far back as middle school, Rebecca Puhl, Ph.D, reports in a journal of school health that over 84 percent of students observe body shaming in gym class. With shaming at this level, not only do children grow up under the mindset that shaming is acceptable behavior, but those who are shamed end up being labelled as the “fat” or “skinny” kid.
While many tend to believe people choose the way they look, they are ignorant of the fact that those who are unhappy with their bodies are often trapped. Those who wish to change are forced to stay that way due to their current mindset, biology or even economical background. When called “overweight” or “skinny” people tend to believe they cannot change. This sense of hopelessness and depression leads to a lack of motivation to change. In fact, those who are defined by these terms usually tend to gain weight later on in life.
Sometimes, people’s bodies are made a certain way. Some are made to be bigger or smaller than others, and only so much can be done naturally to change it. Women who go to the gym to be a size negative two and men who work out to become Hercules will be duly disappointed.
Unfortunately, these fantasized ideals mixed with prevalent shaming lead to many feeling too inadequate to go to the gym in the first place. This thought process leads to many avoiding the advantages granted. With an access to the various resources of the gym, anyone can go to live a healthy lifestyle, yet there is a harmful misconception that the gym belongs to the athletic alone. With all of the “Greek gods,” people feel the need to look a certain way before going to the gym as opposed to going to the gym to look or feel a certain way.
Those who go to the gym are there because they want to make an effort. Regardless of whether this effort is to look fitter, feel healthier or have fun, everyone has a right to be there. With more and more people staying on the couch to watch Netflix, a trip to the gym should be encouraged instead of berated.
People like Milo Yiannopoulos seek to degrade those who try to better themselves if they do not already look drop-dead gorgeous. While taking a picture of an overweight man at a gym, Yiannopoulos commented that “fat must be shamed whenever and wherever it occurs.” His justification says fat-shaming provokes those who are overweight to exercise. He is in every way wrong. By shaming, he drives his victims into depression and further discourages those who wish to practice healthier lifestyles.
The purpose of exercising is not to look perfect but to feel healthy, which everyone should feel encouraged to seek. If anyone deserves to go to the gym, it’s those who need it most, not those who need to add another pack to their twelve-pack abs. Instead of focusing on what others think or say of you in the gym, focus on the benefits of going and trying your best.
Ethan Gilberti is a 19-year-old English sophomore from New Orleans, Louisiana.
French and English sophomore Grace Galeziewski balances herself atop nine crates at the UREC's Grand Opening event on Sept. 8, 2017.
