Journal/ Article review

As you can imagine there are many labels and stereotypes of college athletes, but none other than masculinity and muscularity. In Drive for Muscularity and Conformity to Masculine Norms Among College Football Players, Jesse A. Steinfeldt talks about the many factors of why college football players have this endless desire to be masculine and muscular. So many times college athletes try to live up to the conceptualization of what they, as well as society, believes a male college athlete should look like, therefore leading to their specific behavior in the weight room and on the field. I found this intriguing  because so many people are confused as to why these athletes are acting the way that they do and why these athletes have this desire to live up to these expectations. The idea that I got from this article is that there are many influences on a male college athlete, and these many influences causes them to have this endless desire for masculinity as well as muscularity. These influences may include how their image is viewed through the eyes of society to how people on campus view them as well. Being a male college athlete myself, you feel as if you have to look and act a certain way or you won't be accepted. With that said these influences have a giant impact on why many male college athletes have this drive for masculinity and muscularity. The article also talks about how the image of muscularity is tied in with the conceptualization of being masculine basically entitling that if you are muscular, one should automatically assume you are masculine. this also comes with what the true definition of a man really is through the eyes of society.  I liked when Steinfeldt stated that "Conveying strength and power with the intent of causing others to feel intimidated and fearful is a beneficial purpose of muscularity for men." I like this quote because Steinfeldt says athletes strive for this image of being intimidating to others and that is why they have the drive to be muscular. This piece was one that I found to be most interesting within my research and definitely serves a big purpose within my writing. With the many ideas stated in this article I can relate it to why this desire for masculinity and muscularity is impactful for non-athletes in the gym.


   

Is masculinity a problem in college athletes?

After spending several hours observing specific behavior within the gym I decided to get the opinion of someone who also spends a chunk of his time in this setting. Participant 1, a 20 year old male sophomore from Florida, knows a thing or two about athlete behavior in the weight room as he was part of the staff in the spring and summer of 2015. When asked if there is a change in people's behavior while athletes are in the same setting, he noticed "men seem to be more cautious of the teams in the weight room more than women do." and that "women just go about their business, while the guys are sort of always looking over at the sports teams." This ties in perfect with why masculinity is so present in this setting. Whether it be lifting heavy weights, to wearing cutoffs to show their muscles, men are constantly trying to show their dominance to other men. When questioned if the environment changes when athletes are in the gym, participant 1 didn't hesitate to state "with the football and lacrosse teams, there is a big change in the environment just because there are so many players in the same setting at once and these teams are loudest of them all." With this factor in place, this aspect can make many intimidated. Masculinity is a big problem in these settings for non-athletes that don't live up to the ideal gym image regarding body type and muscularity, which ultimately makes it a disheartening environment for these people when they are working out around athletes.

Ethnography Observations

Observations at the Goldstein Fitness Center (GFC) were extremely helpful in finding the main themes of my research. After attending the GFC several times to take notes I found many reoccurring themes in this setting, and the one that caught my attention the most was masculinity. From the minute I stepped into the gym I could sense the amount of testosterone in the air. From bodybuilders and athletes loading the bar with 45 lb. plates to vigorous grunts during sets, I knew what my research was going to consist of. My time in this setting was the farthest thing from brief, but three observations that really got me going was how masculinity was being displayed, the way smaller males acted around larger males, and the fact that men would constantly stare at themselves in the mirror.

When observing masculinity in the gym there were a variety of different acts from the athletes that were reoccurring and really caught my attention. The behavior observed consisted of grunting, lifting heavy, and overall being loud as a team when in a session. When observing the athletes during their session I couldn’t help but notice the reaction from the non-athletes in the gym. These non-athletes looked as if they were intimidated as I noticed constant looks from the non-athletes towards the athletic teams in session.

While at the GFC I also recall seeing a dramatic change in behavior among the smaller males when working out around the larger males. It seemed as if the larger males intimidated the smaller males because they weren’t able to lift the weight the larger males were capable of. This is problematic to many non-athletes that are constantly working out around athletes because for the most part, many non-athletes on campus aren’t of the same size as individuals apart of athletic teams on campus. 

The last observation that really caught my attention and was something I saw the most of was males gazing at themselves in the mirror. I’m sure when you see this in the gym the first thing you think is “wow, what a tool”. Although I can’t really explain to you the reasoning for this I think I have a good idea why men do this so often. With masculinity comes this idea of muscularity, therefore leading many men trying to demonstrate their dominance among other men, and one way to do that is clearly by trying to show your muscles. From this observation I noticed many of the guys looking at the people gazing at themselves, as they were clearly distracted, but in an uncomfortable way. Surely this may sound strange to many, but from a man’s perspective in the gym, this is a common act among many.

Intro

After spending endless hours in the gym as an athlete to better myself for the sport that I love and for my well being, I find myself on the outside looking in. In a college setting, the gym has a variety of different individuals. Varying from athletes, to normal students on campus, to those who come to the gym that aren't apart of the Pace community. With all these different types of people I look to research the behavior of males and females in a gym environment. This topic intrigues me heavily because I am so fascinated with the gym and why males and females have been acting the way they have in this particular setting for so long. This includes behavior towards the same and opposing gender, the behavior between different sizes of individuals, as well as behavior in different sections of the weight room (Weight section, cardio section, core/ ab section).