co-rec

While visiting the corec the most blatant observation I made involved male behavior. The fashion in which men carry themselves in the weight room is comparable to animal behavior. Just as the alpha male in a pack of wolves throws out his chest and shows superiority with his body language, weightlifters flex their arms and pump their chests whenever they need to impress or intimidate anyone. If an attractive female walks by, I literally saw five or six students flex their arms, pump their chest, and suck in their stomachs. Also, their appears to be a constant comparing of weights and guaging of strength. Even I unintentionally notice exactly how much weight each person is lifting and compare it to my own. Although there is no direct competition in the weight room, there is significant indirect competition. It is nearly every beginning weightlifters dream to be able to lift more than everyone around them. This is evident when looking at most beginning weightlifters. For instance, instead of doing bicep curls correctly, many amatuer weightlifters curl much more than is beneficial in order to fit in with the stronger men.
Weightlifting is in many cases a guage of masculinity. Seeing a weightlifter lay down and benchpress 400 pounds evokes awe. Without even knowing the person, the assumption is automatically made that he is a tough, confident, agressive individual: the apotheosis of masculinity. In many cases strength in females is looked down upon by the male population. Perhaps men feel emasculinized if the woman they are dating can out-bench them. Maybe strength is so tightly associated with masculinity that men feel as though strong women are less feminin.