Blog Post #7 - Ethnography Project Research

After searching the keywords “gyms” and “gender” for scholarly sources to support my ethnography, I came across a document called, “Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting”. This thirteen page secondary source provides multiple detailed studies of gender differences taking place in a standard gym. The specific article contains supported evidence of women who are less likely to lift weights compared to men due to image/self-evaluation issues as well as the emotional discomfort due to the psychological aspects of the gender difference. For example the source states, “The theme of feeling watched, scrutinized, or judged by others was present in 12 of the 37 incident reports. Eleven of these incident reports were written by women (44% of the women who wrote an incident report) and only one by a man (8% of the men who wrote a report).” Since this is a scholarly source and the studies were completed through a Department of Psychology, it appears to be accurate. Reading this report confirms that my proposed argument about gender discrimination due to male dominance present in the Johnson Center Gym is perfect for my ethnography since the findings match what I am attempting to argue about the culture of my space.

References

Salvatore, J., & Marecek, J. (2010). Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting. Sex Roles,63(7/8), 556-567. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9800-8