Spatial Bodies: Vulnerable Inclusiveness within Gyms and Fitness Venues in Sweden

Greta Helen Bladh ()
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Greta Helen Bladh: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 852 30 Sundsvall, Sweden

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-24

Abstract: Today, gyms and fitness venues set out, on a superficial level at least, to cater to the individual, no matter what their gender and are therefore often seen as inclusive spaces for physical activity and its concomitant health benefits. However, previous research has shown that gyms as such, as well as certain areas within gyms, are perceived as specifically masculine spaces, often referring to a contextually contingent hegemonic masculinity, thereby deterring those who do not align with this image, especially women, but also certain men. Even when these dividing lines are crossed, a gendered movement schema remains, because there are different social expectations of what, how, and where men and women should exercise. As we will see in this paper, these movement schemas are produced and reproduced through discursive spatial linkages within the gym and fitness culture. In addition to investigating in what ways gendered norms are implicated within the very architecture of gyms in general, one gym, in particular, is used as an example since it is written into its statutes that it should work in a norm-critical way, providing a case study that shows an attempt to disrupt this inhibiting gendered spatial discourse and, thereby, possibly creating a more inclusive gym space.

Keywords: gym and fitness; gender; inclusiveness; architectural economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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