I am no fitness fanatic but I
do believe that one should strive to live a balanced life to the best of ones
abilities. This would entail exercising
yourself physically, mentally and spiritually.
I enjoy non competitive
physical exercise which I do in the form of gyming, cycling and occasionally
jogging.
However I find for a woman to
do everyday exercise in a male controlled world quite challenging. Often when driving through suburbia I can’t
help notice the number of male joggers and cyclists all of whom run and cycle
with an air of arrogance knowing that just because they are male no one will
interfere with them.
If women go out jogging or
cycling there is always the risk of been attacked and raped. And when some male does attack a female
jogger or cyclist the male world tells her it’s her own fault for been out jogging
or cycling by herself.
Then there is general harassment,
men seem to think that when a woman goes by they can make all kinds of nasty
sexist remarks and if the woman ignores them or rejects their sexism some of
these assholes can get quite nasty.
So when men go jogging or
cycling they can do so wherever and whenever they like. While we women have to take into account all
the above and make sure that the place where we exercise is safe.
I did look at joining a
cycling team in my area but it was really just a white boys club consisting almost
exclusively of white males. Even though there
is no law in the club stating that women and people of colour can’t join it was
not hard to see that if you where not white and male you would be made to feel
like an outsider and never be properly accepted.
There were women members but
they had pretty much conceded to the might white male.
In fact this sexism and
racism does not just seem to be restricted to my area. Cycling is very much a sport dominated by
white males who have no desire to include women or people of colour with them. Just look at Tour de France.
Going to a gym is not always helpful.
In fact it can be very daunting for many
women who have to put up with the men leering at them and sometimes even trying
to chat them up.
I often wonder how a woman traumatized
by some form of male abuse be it rape, battery etc must feel surrounded by all
these male assholes?
I guess most women who have
had such a horrid experience would either avoid gym completely or try and find an
all women’s gym which might be far from where she lives or works.
When I go to gym, I go there
with every intention to have a work out.
I always feel relaxed and refreshed after a good work out. But sometimes there are men there who think
the reason a woman goes to gym is because she wants to find a man to have sex
with.
Because of this I have leant
to go at non peck hours. This does not guarantee
a perfect workout but because there are far fewer men in the gym it reduces the
chance of been ogled out our interfered with.
I have unfortunately had to on
some occasions go at peak hours either early in the morning when many men go
before work or in the evening when many men go after work. At these times the gym turns into a horrid
cesspool of masculinity, but I guess that is just something you have to learn
to tolerate if you want to exercise in a world controlled and dominated by males.
