One common body practice for both genders is going to the gym or working out. Both men and women strive to be fit and have a nice, toned body. Some people might be doing this for themselves, while others are working their butt off to look good in order to attract potential mates. Nowadays, working out is socially constructed to make one look good and get a nicer body. Before having a nice, toned physique was "in," exercising was solely there for maintaining a healthy and strong body and immune system. Now, exercising is considered a pursuit without terminus; people keep going to the gym, running outside, lifting weights, practicing yoga, etc. but never seem to be happy with how their body looks. They keep pushing themselves to get a better physique, but in reality, their idea of perfect body is unreachable and only an object of their imagination. This praxis could be considered an unhealthy way of trying to be healthy. Of course exercising is good for the body, but too much of it or an unhealthy goal could put strain on it.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Going to the Gym?
One common body practice for both genders is going to the gym or working out. Both men and women strive to be fit and have a nice, toned body. Some people might be doing this for themselves, while others are working their butt off to look good in order to attract potential mates. Nowadays, working out is socially constructed to make one look good and get a nicer body. Before having a nice, toned physique was "in," exercising was solely there for maintaining a healthy and strong body and immune system. Now, exercising is considered a pursuit without terminus; people keep going to the gym, running outside, lifting weights, practicing yoga, etc. but never seem to be happy with how their body looks. They keep pushing themselves to get a better physique, but in reality, their idea of perfect body is unreachable and only an object of their imagination. This praxis could be considered an unhealthy way of trying to be healthy. Of course exercising is good for the body, but too much of it or an unhealthy goal could put strain on it.
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I agree with what you’re saying, the idea that people constantly work out in attempts to reach what society has dedicated is an intelligible body it very true. Its true that people constantly work out and are often never content, trying to reach some unreachable goal. What is also very interesting is how working out is a body practice, in attempt to obtain a certain body, but also the idea of working out is a body practice. Regardless of the outcome, no one wants to come off as a lazy slob, so we counter act this by working out. Its does not matter how you look as long as people know you exercise then it shows you fit into this practice. So we work out to reach an un-reachable body type and to show that we may never get that body but at least we want it.
ReplyDeleteI always like seeing people who have the largest dumbbells that they can lift, and in order to lift them they have to swing their body back and forth. This just shows to me that they are trying to work out just to look like they can lift more weight, when instead they should be trying to use a lower amount of weight, do their exercise correctly and actually help develop their muscles instead of just being able to say that they can lift so much.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post as well. Especially with girls, I've noticed that no matter how good they look, they always think they can work on something else. Or you have the people who KNOW they look good and all they do is comment on what they think are flaws about their body. I have also found it interesting that every time I've been to the gym, the majority of the girls are wearing makeup.. sometimes even lots of it. This just ensures that simply going to the gym makes them feel as though they are a healthier person, even though they aren't breaking a sweat.
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