Working Out and Body Image

We all know we need to exercise to stay healthy and feel good. I just joined a gym recently, and being in the environment of a gym has had me thinking of what society's view on which body type looks good and how people view bodies. Being around people that are in really good shape that can tolerate a much tougher and longer workout than you can be pretty intimidating, even more so when you are new to working out in a gym setting, and not just in front of your volleyball team. Body image is such a huge issue, and it is so tough not compare yourself to that girl with mile long legs or the perfect figure. The idea of body image fits in perfectly with Susan Bordo’s article. She says how woman are much more preoccupied with appearance and feel the need for a perfect body so that they can feel good about themselves and the way they look. Weight means so much to so many people, and if only they could shed 10 pounds they would be so much happier. But we need to realize it's not about how skinny we are, but how comfortable we are in our own bodies and that we work with our natural body type. This is unrelated but I liked the quote in Susan Bordo’s article about a guy that fell in love with a girl because she had the best things he liked in a girl and the best things he liked in a guy. I thought it was interesting because that really is a win-win situation for the guy, not only to have the things guys want in a girl but bonus!- a girl that likes to do guy things.

Anyways, I was wondering what the motivation was behind most people for dragging themselves to the gym 3-5 times a week. Is it because they need to lose a significant amount of weight to maintain a healthy lifestyle? Because they want to tone up and look great for everyone to see? Or is it because they simply want to feel good about themselves, not for the reason of how they look to other people, but instead of how they feel health wise about themselves?

We have a conception of what beauty is, the definition of intelligible body, and that differs between men and woman and what a man finds attractive in a woman versus what a woman finds attractive in another woman (dressing to impress a guy versus dressing for a night out with just your girl friends). At the gym, there is unfortunately always that person that has a better body than you will ever have, and while we still need to work to do our best, it’s kind of a pursuit without a terminus- some of us just will not get the results we want from working out, and even if we look great to everybody else, to ourselves it is not good enough.