Gym culture is so interesting. I thought the culture of a gym would be the same across a chain, but it seems that I am wrong (as so often is the case). My friend emailed me and asked me which gym I belong to. She suspected it was the same chain as her gym and it turns out that we go to gyms that are part of the same gym and in the same general neighborhood, but 16 or so blocks apart. She found that, unlike at my gym, most of the women seem to be au natural. She also noted that she wasn’t sure if she was just not seeing the waxed ladies, or if this is symbolic of old school Upper West Siders. There are definitely a lot more older members at her gym than mine, and while there are always a couple of young girls who walk around half-naked at her gym, everyone kind of ignores them. My gym seems to consist mostly of stylish younger women (under age 40) who are obnoxiously wealthy. Not really my demographic.
My husband reported that in the men’s locker room in our gym, guys like to stomp around naked. He claims that they weigh themselves naked and when they get on the scale, they practically leap on and swing their dicks around. I wonder if that is the case at the gym 16 blocks away or if the guys are also less show offy up there. Interesting. I don’t know any guys who work out there except someone I work with, and I probably should not ask him about naked guys in the men’s locker room. (We had to watch a video on sexual harassment, and according to the video, that would be an inappropriate question, even under the context of scientific research for a blog.)
My friend concluded her email to me on our gyms by speculating whether the differences in our gyms’ cultures are a symbol of the past of a symbol of the future, or just an isolated subculture? “Without being a perv, I will certainly keep my eyes open and report back if I notice anything else on this trend.” I am very pleased to have a spy at another gym location. She’ll have to let me know if the sports shop up there sells thongs and g-strings. Come to think of it, I don’t think the gym I use by my office does. I’ll have to pay more attention. (I only went in the shop once, when I noticed a cute shirt on sale for half off and plus a free sports bra with any purchase.)
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Additionally, I saw another spectacular sight at said uptown gym just yesterday afternoon - an attractive woman in her mid-thirties was standing next to one of the locker room mirrors and unselfconsciously plucking her chin hairs. Visiting this gym is starting to feel like stepping into some glorious alternate universe where women proudly acknowledge that they have body hair. (okay, yes, she was *removing* the hairs, but I still thought it was cool that she was so comfortable doing this in public)
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