by Lori Cui ‘25
If you regularly walk by Wiedergott or read the email from Ms. Maddock, you might have heard about the new gym times dedicated to encouraging everyone to work out in Wiedergott. Over the course of two weeks, I surveyed multiple athletes that use Wiedergott about this topic, and here are their responses.
(Schedule of Wiedergott Hours)
Before inclusive Wiedergott hours were introduced, many athletes said that they used to work out at Coolidge with a coach because it made them “feel safe” and the equipments were also better. However, Coolidge had limited open slots for all athletes - regardless of athletic teams. Wiedergott is a gym that is always accessible to anybody but had very limited non-male athletes using it. After including non-male gym time, Wiedergott has currently seen a huge increase in non-male athletes using the facilities.
Non-male athletes showed overwhelmingly positive responses to the Wiedergott gym times, saying that it makes them feel “comfortable” and “judgment-free” to work out. Many other athletes brought up reasons for feeling uncomfortable with guys, one respondent stating that “If I am too strong, then they will be scared of me. But if I am not strong enough, then they will laugh at me for being weak and a girl.” Other athletes also expressed that many boys in the gym blasting “loud rap music” made them feel disagreeable to walk in and work out with the crowd.
When the non-male athletes were asked how to respond to sexist comments about gym time, they acknowledged that the opinions exist, but the decision has been made, and everyone should live with it. Multiple athletes have stated that the gym is for everyone in the school to use, which includes 50% of non-male athletes at the school. Some have argued that it is encouraging everyone to work out more but also created a larger gap between genders. The new gym times seem to completely separate genders, a segregation not new to Wiedergott but made more evident to onlookers. Wiedergott hours has promoted more inclusive usage of the gym but has also seemingly driven a bigger wedge between genders at St. Mark’s.
What are your thoughts on the new gym time? Is it furthering the gap between genders?