It is 2:30 p.m. in the Block weight room. The curtains are drawn, gymshark leggings are hiked up thighs and the air is devoid of testosterone and unnecessary grunting. Women’s weightlifting hours are from 1:30-2:30 p.m. every weekday at the University of Oregon’s Student Recreation Center.
Social media has largely bolstered the presence of women in weight rooms. While the 2010s encouraged the Victoria’s Secret model physique, the gym influencers of the 2020s have dictated that it’s “in” to be strong. Jordyn Hicks, a freshman business marketing student, said when she first started lifting, she got most of her workouts from gym influencers.
“People are starting to see more and more people talking about weightlifting on social media, which spikes their interest,” Corrine Bell, a women’s weightlifting instructor at UO, said. “I do think there’s a shift in the culture where people who identify as women want to be strong. And I love it. I love watching a student walk into the weight room for the first time, and by the end of the 10-week class, they walk like they own the room.”
But with the trendiness of having a muscular physique as a woman comes a spike in self-esteem issues. This is often brought on by a constant comparison to gym influencers. Many popular social media creators have the luxury of revolving their entire lives around their diet and exercise routine. Because they are making a living off of having the “perfect physique,” they have time to prioritize obsessively perfect health.
Hicks said that the media tends to depict the perfect female physique as “a flat stomach and the perfect butt and thin arms.” Many women will strive for this figure when in reality it is not attainable genetically. Hicks said she used to strive for this physique, but is now making more realistic, personal fitness goals for herself that are centralized around strength and functionality.
While strong women are becoming more popular in the media, there are extremely specific criteria surrounding what type of muscle composition is considered attractive.
“I do think that there is definitely pressure on women to not get too bulky and that definitely does deter women away from lifting in general,” Taylor Evans, a sophomore product design major, said. “It’s expected that if your lower body is bigger the rest of your body should somehow be small. But it is really difficult to put on muscle in just one area.”
Bell said she often falls into the trap of comparing herself to those on social media. But when she does, Bell reminds herself that, “more often than not, what is posted is people’s best. It’s rare that people post their worst.” What is being depicted on the screen isn’t representative of what that person actually looks like so it’s unfair to compare yourself to them.
This issue is not exclusive to the women’s weightlifting community, as men also struggle with the self esteem issues that come with gym culture. But there are discrepancies between the experiences of the two groups.
“Men are more focused on gaining muscle and mass, where I feel like with women, the focus is definitely being smaller,” Evans said.
In response to the expectation for women to be small, Bell encourages her students to take up space. “In my classes, we don’t talk about the scale. We don’t talk about what we look like. It’s all about taking up space and feeling deserving to be there,” Bell said.
An aspect of that fear of taking up space for women is feeling out of place within the gym. The weight rooms are often male dominated spaces, which can be daunting for women who are learning to lift.
“It feels intimidating to lift as a woman because there’s predominantly men around me using the machines,” Evans said. “I feel like that could definitely be something that would deter other women from experimenting with lifting.”
Evans said she has gained a lot of confidence now that she has experience within those spaces. “Doing workouts that make me feel strong and might not be targeted for women has made me feel more entitled to the space I take up because I’m able to do the same things that men are doing,” Evans said. “It kind of feels like why would I not be able to take that space?”
For other women hoping to achieve this same level of comfort within the gym, it’s important to feel a sense of comradery with other women in the weight room. Hicks said she focuses on complimenting one girl at the gym everyday to boost this sense of community.
“I’ve made a lot of friends doing this; it makes me feel more comfortable and makes other people more comfortable,” Hicks said. “It has created a more positive atmosphere in the rec center.”
But mostly, it’s important for women to feel entitled to belonging in the gym.
“This is your place; when you come to my classes or to the gym, it should be a break from the world to just focus on yourself,” Bell said. “It helps to find a community that’s supporting the healthy side of exercise –– not necessarily to look a certain way but to be my best self, mentally and physically.”
