Taylor Amico

Food, Feminism, & Health

Research Proposal
The Gendered Gym: An in-depth look into gender and bodily norms perpetuated
throughout gym culture at HWS
Abstract:
This study looks to address the various gender norms exhibited throughout gym
culture on the Hobart & William Smith campus. More specifically, it identifies a
disconnect in the equality expressed across two groups of William Smith women:
student-athletes and non-student athletes. This project suggests that the bodily
movements and exercises performed by female student athletes which otherwise are
deemed masculine, are more readily accepted by the general HWS population than if
they were performed by female non-student athletes. In other words, it suggests that
female student-athletes essentially resist the gendered norms of the HWS population
which are exhibited in the gym. These issues will likely be highlighted through both
participatory observation within the HWS gym as well as semi-structured interviews at
various restaurants in downtown Geneva. Both methods will likely yield extremely
valuable, yet diverse data relating to gym culture at the Colleges. It is approximated this
study will require around 25 weeks to complete. With that being said, this work calls for
a stretching or spreading of the equality and acceptance already granted to the female
student-athletes to the rest of the female gym-goers at William Smith College. By doing
so, it is hoped that this decentering will yield better perceived body images, and less
focus on which exercises or movements are outside of what is allowed for each gender.
Introduction:
This project seeks to both highlight and deconstruct the gender norms perpetuated
throughout exercising and eating on the Hobart & William Smith campus. The gym as a
space is known by many to be rather gendered, in that men and women are typically
sequestered to specific areas and exercises while working out. Clearly, there are no
physical restraints or rules claiming, men must occupy the heavy lifting zones while
women must only have access to cardio machines. This restriction is one which I
believe has become extremely engrained into our culture, especially at HWS. My
research question states, How do womens bodily routines, such as exercising and
eating, reinforce or resist gendered norms on the HWS campus that are associated with
fitness? In this question, I hope to address a certain hypothesis that I have come across
through personal experience in my shift from a student-athlete to a non-athlete.
When I first came to William Smith, I was a very competitive soccer player. I ate,
slept, and breathed my sport. All throughout high school, I was required by my team to
follow a strict weight lifting and strengthening regimen. Because of this, the world of free
weights, squat machines, and bench presses was no stranger to me. Though I did not
like it, I performed these exercises and bodily movements for the overall greater good
of my team. After several weeks of William Smith soccer, I decided to quit and instead
focus myself on my academics. My reentrance into the gym-setting was terrifying to say
the least. All of the machines that I previously knew how to use were completely

occupied by Hobart students, in a sequestered area of the gym space. Contrastingly, the
large majority of the cardio machines, such as elipticals and treadmills, were occupied by
females only. This was a condition which I immediately recognized upon entering the
room, suggesting I must follow it. With that being said, I find it interesting to consider
how quickly my mindset shifted from being completely comfortable in certain areas of a
gym or occupying certain machines, towards one that was completely focused on body
image, and goals of slimming down and losing all of the muscles which I had
accumulated in the past years. It was as if I maintained an athletic mindset for years,
and suddenly switched to this non-athletic mindset. So, what I want to explore is
whether or not this is a common situation throughout gym culture at HWS. Are female
student-athletes more comfortable than other William Smith students occupying
machines or performing exercises which otherwise are deemed masculine? This
deemed masculine aspect is based on the fact that such machines and areas were
overwhelmingly occupied by men in the HWS gym.
One study which addressed similar issues within the gym-setting stated: The
gymprovides socio-political spaces which confirm feminine and masculine stereotypes.
Not only do bodies shape the hard core gym environment, but they are shaped by it
(Johnson, 1996). Here, Johnson addresses the ways which female bodybuilders push the
limits of gender norms by performing cross-gendered movements within the gym-space.
In addition to that, female bodybuilders also push this notion through their very own
appearances, as they did not fit within the homologous female image which we have
perpetuated for so long in our culture. While I do not wish to draw similarities to female
bodybuilders and William Smith student athletes, I believe the role in which they play in
pushing the envelope for gender equality within the gym space can be identified in
student-athletes that are women. More specifically, it is my general belief that there is a
greater acceptance for female student-athletes to perform masculine behaviors (ie.
lifting weights, squatting, etc.) than it is for non-student athletes that are women. This
notion is mainly due to the fact that they are simply required to workout and lift weights
to maintain their strength and fitness both for themselves and for the greater good of their
teams. Therefore, this study serves as a push for this acceptance of otherly or
diversified behavior and body images across the board to the rest of the female
population. In doing so, I hope that women that are not categorized as student-athletes
will focus less on obtaining a feminine female body and the avoidance of bulking up,
and more on the visceral feelings and benefits their bodies experience by exercise.
On a broader scale, this project may be valuable to present to the Colleges
restructuring of their master plan. More specifically, one proposed solution to this study,
if the results are as expected, would be to reconstruct the gym space so as to be
welcoming to every student, regardless of gender. The gym is intended to be a public
space, but it is regularly made private by the outdated, illogical gender norms engrained
in our culture.
Methods:
The two methods chosen for this experiment are participatory observation and
semi-structured interviews. Strict confidentiality will be kept to ensure full privacy of
each participant in the study.

Participatory Observation
To perform this method, I would plan to attend the Hobart & William Smith gym
approximately every other day for three weeks, at various times of day. Visiting the gym
space at various times will allow for as diverse a population as possible. During these
visits, I plan to perform the exercises within my normal gym routine, while visually
obtaining a mental layout of the space in regards to gender. With this gender mapping
that I expect to achieve, I will take brief notes on my iPhone. I plan to wear headphones,
use my cellphone to text, and overall appear similar to a normal gym-goer.
Every other day that I attend the gym I will sit with one of the student workers at the
check in desk while observing the gym space, but not exercising. This will allow me to
gain a better understanding of who is occupying which areas or machines at the gym,
how much, as well as make general hypotheses as to why. These expectations will be
addressed in later methods in this research study.
Participatory observation at the HWS gym will be beneficial because it will allow me
to get a general understanding of whether or not the space itself portrays gendered
limitations for appropriate bodily movements. Participatory observation is a plausible
method for obtaining extremely valuable data regarding typical gym behaviors practiced
by male and female students at HWS. This method does not require any sort of
recruitment and therefore there should not be any difficulty in obtaining the data needed.
Semi-Structured Interviews
To perform this research method, approximately 20 female students will be
obtained. Specifically, I wish to obtain 10 student-athletes, and 10 non-student
athletes. In order to recruit them, I will send emails out to the William Smith
population, asking for their voluntary participation. As an incentive, each participant
will be entered into a raffle to win a $40.00 gift card to a sportswear company of their
choice. In addition, these interviews will be conducted at various restaurants in town
over lunch or dinner. Because food is something that often times brings people
together, allowing them to bond and share information with one another, interviewing
over a meal may produce rich data (FF&H class, 2014). Utilizing this method should
produce the majority of the data obtained from this study. Interviews of this type are
favorable due to their semi-structuring, as they are somewhat free in terms of where
the conversation will go. In other words, the questions can be viewed as basic
prompts towards dialogue. With this, rich data may be obtained that may have not
otherwise have been expected due to researcher bias or assumptions. Some of the
example interview questions will be as follows:
How often do you exercise on a weekly basis?
What would you say your fitness goal is?
Do you ever read fitness magazines to obtain different knowledge regarding
specific exercises?
Which exercises do you typically perform at the gym?
Do you ever enter into the weight room? Why or why not?
Are there certain machines or exercises you avoid at the HWS gym? If so, why?
Do you feel that certain exercises are performed solely by women or by men? (ie.
elliptical, yoga, etc.)

 Do you read fitness magazines while you are exercising at the gym?
It will be interesting to see the contrast (or similarity) in answers and dialogue obtained
from interviewing student-athletes and non-student athletes. Based on personal
experiences, it is expected that there may be a difference in what is felt by a female
athlete versus a non-athlete. For example, for the question that addresses What is your
fitness goal, it is expected that non-athletes may produce something such as slimming
down, thinning my... toning my, etc., while an athlete may state, getting in shape
for season, reaching the 6 minute mile required for preseason, and so on. For the
question asking Are there certain machines or exercises that you avoid at the HWS
gym?, it is expected that a student-athlete may refer to an answer such as, I
avoidmachine because I recently had shoulder surgery or I avoid the because I
have shin splints and I do not want to make them worse. In other words, such answers
would suggest that there lies an overall focus on the well-being of the body and the
muscles, as opposed to something related to body image and overall appearance. It is
expected that non-student athletes may refer to answers such as I avoid.because I
dont want to bulk up and get big muscles, for example. Here, it is clear to see that there
exists more of a focus on the way the female body is supposed to look and which
movements must be avoided in order to obtain such a homologous image. While these
expectations are based solely on personal experience, I am open to obtaining all results
no matter how similar or different to what I have hypothesized.
Research Plan and Timeline:
I anticipate that solidifying the interview questions will take approximately a
week. The IRB approval should take approximately 2-4 weeks. The recruitment of
participants will be conducted over the course of approximately 3 weeks, as I would plan
to send out 3-4 emails each week to remind students of the study. Then, 3 weeks will be
required to conduct the participatory observation step of the study. For the semistructured interviews, I anticipate that I will conduct approximately 4 per week. The
transcription of the data both from the participatory observation and the interviews will
take approximately 3 weeks, with another 4 weeks for the analysis of the data and
findings, including a write up. The dissemination of the results should take another 3
weeks or so following that. In total, this study would require approximately
Solidifying interview questions
IRB approval
Recruitment of participants
Participatory observation
Semi-structured interviews
Transcription and data processing
Analysis and write-up of findings
Dissemination of results

Ethical Considerations:

January 5-9
January 12-February 6
February 9-27
March 2-20
March 23-April 24
April 27-May 15
May 18-June 12
June 15-July 3
Total time anticipated: 25 weeks

In this research study, the confidentiality of every participant will be taken very
seriously to ensure complete privacy for all. More specifically, no pictures will be
obtained while conducting participatory observation at the HWS gym. The only
information obtained will be entered textually into the Notes section of my iPhone, which
will then be deleted immediately after the results of the study have been analyzed. No
information will be recorded regarding the identity of any of the students either. In
regards to the personal interviews, all of the information obtained will also be
permanently destroyed after transcription and analysis. No identities of the participants
will be used in any part of the study either.
In regards to the participatory observation method, the days spent actually
exercising at the gym will consist more of a general mapping of the gym as a space,
rather than focusing on individuals working out. On the other days, I plan to bring a book
or homework while obtaining a general observation of the overall demographic of the
gym space, as well as the types of movements and exercises being performed. With that
being said, this method should be extremely ethical to conduct.
For the semi-structured interviews, consciousness will be necessary when
addressing questions regarding fitness solely to ensure the well-being of all participants.
Because fitness and health can be rather sensitive topics to individuals with different
disorderly behaviors, for example, I will be conscious if the dialogue takes a turn and
begins to appear destructive. In this case, contact information for the Colleges
Counseling Center will be provided. In addition to this, each participant will be fully
debriefed following these dialogues. Every participant must sign an informed consent
contract at the beginning of the study, after being informed of my background and
interests on this topic specifically. This will ensure their full knowledge of what they are
agreeing to.
Budget:
Expenses of study

Total

Lunch at Opus or Charr Burrito

$20.00 (per 20 people), $400.00 total

Gift card

$40.00
$440.00

This budget should be more than sufficient for this research study. The interviews
conducted at Opus or Charr Burrito should cost approximately $20.00 each. Because
there are 20 participants, the total food expenses should be around $400.00. The $40.00
gift card to a sportswear company will be given at random as an incentive for
volunteering to participate in the study. Because many students attend both Charr and
Opus weekly for lunch or dinner, obtaining a free meal courteously of participating in
this study should not be in any way overly enticing. The total expenses for this research
study should be approximately $440.00.

Researcher Biography:
I have taken several classes within the Womens Studies department at HWS,
which address the body, food, and health through a feminist lens. One class, Food,
Feminism & Health was highly based upon qualitative methods, and therefore I am wellversed in conducting different types of methods. Both of the methods proposed in this
study have been completed in the course, therefore I am extremely well-qualified to
repeat them. In addition to this, I have taken various classes relating to health and ethics,
including: Public Health Ethics, Illness and Healing, and more. I also have completed a
statistical design course in my HWS curriculum as well, which can be helpful with data
collection and analysis. With that being said, I am highly-qualified to perform this
research study.
References:
Traskos, Steffani. "Gendered Spaces: The Gym and the Restaurant."Landconference.
27 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://landconference.org/journals/2013scholars/traskos.pdf>.
Johnson, Lynda. "Flexing Femininity: Female Body-builders Refiguring 'the
Body'" Gender, Place and Culture 3.3 (1996): 327-40. Print.