Girls Only Gym Time: Is It Really That Crazy?
The gym at Kents Hill is a great resource to help students better themselves growing healthier, stronger and more confident–but only if they feel safe and comfortable. Right now that’s not the case for everyone. For many girls on campus, walking into the gym can feel intimidating. It’s often packed with boys that are in there with their friends, taking up most of the equipment, and having loud fun. Now, this is not an editorial to tell boys that they are doing something wrong by having fun, and doing their thing. I sincerely doubt that any of them are intentionally making the gym an uninviting place for girls, but it’s happening. It’s just a fact of life that you have to do things that make you uncomfortable, and step out of your comfort zone. However, I think it’s unfair to girls that are already stepping out of their comfort zone–by going to the gym and learning how to use the machines–to also do it while feeling judged.
One girl said that she’d “go to the gym so much more often if there was a girls-only gym [time], even once a week.” From what I’ve heard, many other girls on campus share that feeling. Setting aside an hour for female-identifying students to use the gym each week isn’t radical. When I was touring Kents Hill, my tour guide pointed out that one of the things she loved about campus was having a girls-only gym time. As an 8th grader, that stood out to me and was part of what drew me to Kents Hill. Not the gym time specifically, but the thoughtfulness behind trying to make spaces on campus feel comfortable, and more like home for everyone.
Now, as I’ve brought these ideas up over the past three years, some counter arguments have come up. The most common one is, “But then we’ll have to have a boys-only gym time.” To that, I completely agree! Let’s have a boys-only gym time. We can have boys for one hour and girls for one hour, and it’s completely fair.
The second argument I heard on why having a girls-only gym time doesn’t work comes from people who grew up lifting in male-dominated gyms, and believe the girls on this campus should, too. I have to be honest, that argument has always just seemed like a misery loves company type of situation. I personally don’t think we need to reflect those kinds of societal shortcomings in our community. In addition, we can use our girls only gym time to get girls comfortable and confident in their abilities in a safe space and then, when they go off to college, they are prepared to lift in those male-dominated gyms.
The last argument against having a girls gym time is a bit more complex than the others. A few months ago (over hors d’oeuvres with plenty of gusto), I was explaining to my family how annoyed I was that no matter how many times I brought it up, people would always shoot down my girls’ gym time plan. After patiently letting me give my rant, my cousin pointed out that people who didn’t identify as male or female would be put in an awkward position if they wanted to take advantage of our gym time setup. As I’ve thought about it, I think that the girls and boys gym time should be a stepping stone for Kents Hill in making our athletic facilities more inclusive and comfortable for all our students. I think we should start with girls and boys gym times, and non-binary students can choose which space they feel comfortable in, but as we work out the details, we, as a community, can change it over time to fit more people.
As time goes on we could change girls’ gym time by sectioning out times by self-assessed skill level, or even something else entirely, but the point isn’t just girls, the point we need to make some changes at Kents Hill, with the goal of making campus a more inclusive and welcoming space–don’t you think?
