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Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl

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Shamrockette
01/07/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I used to love gym class in elementary school because we did FUN things, like we had these fun obstacle courses we would climb and run through. Also, I was very active as a kid, doing basketball, softball and dance every week and my friends would go biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, and play tag, hide-and-go-seek and touch football.

But then when I got into middle school, gym class became a torture chamber. We would have to do fitness tests every month, which involved half-mile runs, push ups, sit ups, toe reach, low jump (jumping over a bar with your entire body), and pull ups. Then after the tests, they would have an assembly and award the students that got an 80% or higher on their tests with new gym uniforms and certificates.

Apparently, they thought that awarding kids who were more physically active would make the less active kids more motivated to exercise. Obviously that worked out VERY well. It made me hate exercise and most physical activity, with the sole exception of softball.

But then during the softball championships in 9th grade, I ended up dislocating my left knee. And I haven't played sports since.

After going through all of the torture in middle school, it's still shocks me how people still wonder why girls don't like to be physically active. With a combination of trying to compete with the boys and more athletic girls, being humiliated by your gym teachers for being out of shape, and not having fun with the certain activities they offer, no wonder girls don't have the motivation to stay active!
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Glitterbug (likes life shaken, not stirred)
01/07/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I hate the gym but not because it's boring - I hate it because invariably I'm the only female under forty in there and am seen as "fair game" for all the guys pretending to lift weights.

That's why I bought my own treadmill :)
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resonanteye
01/07/09

@Glitterbug: Same here. I've got weights at home, too. Can't stand the lechery in the gym.
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resonanteye
01/07/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
Double dutch!!! Climbing! (at which chicks naturally excel) Both were just about the only form of exercise I ever really enjoy.
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RedHotz
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
When I was younger I was very active and was constantly doing something. As I got older and became disabled it became very difficult for me to find activities for me to do.

As for my daughters they have always been involved with something and been active. They were tomboys but they also enjoyed being cheerleaders when they were younger. As they got older they got involved with other physical activities and also ROTC and the drill and Raider team. My son is the one that was the problem with keeping him active haha.
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kityglitr
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
Calling bullshit! Most of the girls I schooled with, myself included, had 4 days out of our week after school at dance class. Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, bitches...
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Maulleigh
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
Everything that girls do is lame and everything that boys do is totally awesome!
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FourInchHeels
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
My little slutting self has always (well, for the last four years) enjoyed salsa dancing as my favorite - and currently only, due to a long-lasting injury - form of exercise. It's an awesome workout, does a lot for your arms/legs/back/core, and you get to spend time with lots of people. If you like a partner, dance with them more. If you don't, don't make eye contact and avoid another invitation.

And as always: salsa and sex are a lot alike. If you don't think so, you're doing at least one of them wrong. Excellent way to screen potential partners! ha. I'm only sort of kidding.
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happysquid
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
All I have to say is that gym class has left me with a lifelong phobia of flying spherical objects (AKA balls but it always sounds funny when one says that out loud)... I got hit in the face so often (one memorable time in 6th grade a soccer ball hit me square in the chest so hard that I swear I thought my heart stopped beating) that I think I have some kind of ptsd about sports balls.

Is this normal, fellow chicks with glasses?

(oh and i was always scared that my glasses would shatter and glass would end up in my eye too--that was fun)
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whynotshesaid
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I like working out with people but only when they are serious about it as I am. Otherwise I feel like I am boring the other person.
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Remedios Varo can't see no huevos.
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I'm too busy reading Jezebel to go outside.
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annveal
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
the way physical education is taught makes me livid. i was uninterested in gym class in high school because it was playing softball with girls on the softball team, playing volleyball with girls on the volleyball team, etc. no sports were *taught* - it was just assumed that you knew how to play certain sports. AND the sports we did play were limited - we played hockey in elementary school and i loved it, but we never played it after reaching the age of 8 or so. that doesn't mean i'm unathletic, it just means i hate fucking playing fucking volleyball.

there should be a special gym class for non-sporty people where you do things like weight training and actually LEARNING a new sport and things like that. GAH.
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yvanehtnioj
01/06/09

@annveal: there should be a special gym class for non-sporty people where you do things like weight training and actually LEARNING a new sport and things like that. GAH.

That's how it worked at my schools - if you were on the team, you didn't go to p.e., you went to basketball / volleyball / track / etc. practice. And the p.e. kids (I did p.e. in middle school, finally made the team in high school) switch every six weeks between activities you get to choose. So I learned how to play tennis (terribly), racquetball, one term I just walked the track all period, etc. It still sucked in some regards, but I didn't realize that some schools make you play the sports with the kids that are good enough to be on a team. That would be intimidating / embarrassing. And when does the team learn plays? Very confusing.
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sweetbeans
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I hate that when women or girls talk it's "gossip". When men talk, they're "talking". Gossip is such a pejorative term, and almost exclusively used with women. I remember even in Women's Studies there was a section on networking in tribal cultures and every time the book described elder of the community having discussions (for example, which people were working hard, who was breaking social norms, what crop should be grown), they would describe the men as "meeting to discuss important community matters", while the women were described as "gossiping".

Women are often more verbal and intellectually stimulated by communication and sharing. To belittle this by terming it "gossip" is just another indication of gender bias in science, and does little to help solve the issue at hand - how to combat childhood obesity.
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yvanehtnioj
01/06/09

@sweetbeans: Good call.
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dj_chick
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I can not tell a lie... I am lazy as fuck. It's horrible. I wish (really!) that I had super amazing motivation to get up and get moving. It would rock.
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whynotshesaid
01/06/09

@dj_chick: If you force yourself to do it for a couple of weeks, you'll get to the point where you feel like crap physically when you don't go.

Plus, I always use this mental trick - I tell myself that I will feel better once I get out and get moving. It's true, I've never once come back from a run or a trip to the gym and said, "Well, that sucked. I wish I would have sat at home and watched reruns of Friends instead."
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Cerridwen
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
I played very few team sports when I was younger (and was mostly dreadfully bad at the ones I did play). I think I was a stand-around girl in gym class mostly because I felt embarassed to be playing these sports I was not good at, especially with the jock kids mocking her for being too slow or whatever.

But the thing is, I am very active. I love to swim, ride my bike, dance, go for hikes, run, do yoga etc. I just happen to have shitty hand-eye coordination and so I have never been very good at ball sports. I think it school physical education programs got a bit more creative in what they offered (instead of the usual baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer), more people, girls and boys, would be inspired to get active. Being bad at sports does not preclude you from being active. Trust me, I know.
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PrettyNotPretty
01/06/09

In reply to Physically Active? Of Course Not, You're A Girl
My problem with gym class was I had it first period every damn year in high school, but we had no showers, so especially in the un-airconditioned warmer months, I didn't want to spend the entire 9 hour school day/debate team practice stinking.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
01/06/09

@PrettyNotPretty: Srsly. Why don't they think these things through?
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