Female-identifying students use different gym equipment in the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center.
Choate’s fitness center, located in the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center (WJAC), is home to cardio machines, free weights, and weight machines. While the gym is open to all students, it only takes a quick glance into the space to observe that the majority of students are male.
Male predominance in the gym impacts its culture in primarily unspoken ways. Male stereotypes and toxic masculinity are projected onto female-identifying students, making weightlifting an intimidating activity and often inducing anxiety, especially for those new to the gym.
Charlotte Flynn ’25 noticed this when she first started going to the gym. “Toxic masculinity makes it seem like guys have to lift, and girls do cardio,” she said. “In a way, I wanted to break that down and go against that stigma. I wanted to show that, as a female, girls can lift.”
The gym environment and male students do not always make the gym a welcoming space. “They’re lifting a lot of weight, they’re very loud, and they’re with their friend groups,” Flynn said. In her freshman year, she felt particularly intimidated in a space of predominantly upperclassmen boys. “I was scared to get in their way,” she said. “Eventually, I learned that this is also my space. This is my space for my mental health and my physical health.”
A frequenter of the free weight section, Nia Bradford ’25 experienced a similar anxiety to Flynn’s. “With a big group of guys, you’re more conscious of what you look like and how they’re perceiving you.”
This heightened awareness may also be fueled by a fear of not being taken seriously. “As a girl going to the gym, I feel like people often assume that you don’t really work out, or you can’t lift a lot of weight. Or that you’re just doing it to take pictures or something and then leave,” Bradford added.
For Bradford, the gym is an important space to work towards her fitness and aesthetics goals. “I want to be strong, but I also want to be confident,” she said. “Going to the gym helps me achieve that.”
The gym experience for male students appears to come with less anxiety. “I feel like people value progress a lot more than they do actual strength,” said John Markley ’25, who first started going to the gym his freshman year. “I wouldn’t be made fun of or anything if I were to do an exercise that guys typically don’t do, because it’s all in the name of getting big and strong.”
Cason Genovese ’23 lifts regularly and follows his own routine. “I have my own little program; I follow what I have to do each day — I don’t feel pressured to do arms when everyone’s doing arms or has huge arms, I don’t feel pressured to do legs … it’s about my goals and not anyone else’s.”
While Choate’s gym culture is undoubtedly male-dominated, there is room for all students to have positive experiences.
Oliver Howard ’23, who first started going to the gym at Choate, recognizes that girls may feel overwhelmed by the disproportionate ratio of male students to female students. He encourages new gym-goers to “go in there, have fun, and see what works.”
Similarly, for female students new to the gym, Flynn advised, “Go with a friend. I definitely think it’s a fun way to spend your afternoon, and it’s very empowering.”
