Entering a gym as a newcomer is already an intensely anxiety-inducing experience; the design of the weight room at the Wade King Student Rec Center exacerbates this issue, especially for women.
At Western Washington University, the term “fishbowl” is the sardonic nickname for the notoriously intimidating glass box that comprises the weight room at the Rec. Situated in the center of the gym, the enclosed room's mirrored and transparent walls and central location create a unique phenomenon: the space feels simultaneously vulnerable and unapproachable.
For many, the most strenuous element of gym-going isn't related to dumbbells or cables but is instead the herculean effort required to overcome gym anxiety. Riley Horton is a senior at Western and says she’s only ever used cardio machines at the Rec, because walking through the weight room doors has proven to be too anxiety-inducing.
“I feel like when you enter the Rec Center, those are the only doors you should have to walk through,” Horton said.
The Rec’s Fitness Programs Coordinator, Ron Arnold, explained the reasoning behind the separated design of the weight room in matter-of-fact terms.
“Having the traditional weight room separate from the cardio area is actually very common. Those spaces serve different purposes, and separating them helps manage noise levels,” he said.
Despite the practical reasoning behind the Rec’s layout, the exclusion created by subliminal messaging through design cannot be underestimated. In many ways, the “fishbowl” seems to function as a stage; the room is hyper visible and difficult to access.
Entirely enclosed and with only two doors, the weight room is removed from the rest of the Rec. Through windowed walls, music blasts and weights clash as students appear to move assuredly past floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the small space. The only doors to the room are peripheral, almost hidden. From an external perspective, the room is distinctly intimidating.
Charissa Kirby teaches psychology of exercise at Western and empathizes with the vulnerability created on both sides of the room’s transparent walls.
“You’re just producing anxiety for the people inside that box, and to an outsider it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s intimidating,’” said Kirby. “But being on the inside, it’s one of the reasons why people, especially women, don’t go in. They know people on the outside can see them.”
In a space where women are already socialized to be uncomfortable, a room designed to promote visibility from all sides can only increase anxiety. “There are a lot of mirrors in that room, but also you have these windows, so you have the gaze of yourself and then a gaze from someone else,” says Kirby.
Horton explained the feeling of vulnerability: “I feel like that the biggest thing is that there’s no privacy.”
In recent years, bodybuilding and strength training have snowballed in popularity, even among women who have historically prioritized cardio.
“Women weren’t always raised to lift weights. The gendered body ideal was that women need to stay thin; they can’t put on extra muscle. But now it’s somewhat changing,” said Kirby.
While this change is profoundly positive, it has left a knowledge gap as the female gym community plays catch-up, making the environment even more intimidating.
For women, weightlifting might be newly popular, but the health benefits are unchanging and plentiful, making it crucial that women feel empowered in this space. Weightlifting has the potential to counter toxic gym culture, ideally promoting strength over excessive weight loss.
“When you’re lifting these heavy weights, you get that sense of accomplishment — you feel like you can do stuff. It increases people’s confidence but also even their body image non-objectively,” said Kirby.
As a person improves in the gym and is capable of lifting progressively heavier weights, they can measure their success independently from their appearance, which is a uniquely positive perspective shift for women in the gym.
It’s hard to deny that the design of the weight room at the Rec feels exclusionary, but this can also function as a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a newcomer doesn’t see someone like them utilizing the “fishbowl,” they are more likely to avoid the room.
“Weightlifting is such a gendered space. The lack of women in that space sort of reaffirms that gender gap, so I think any step we can make toward showing more body types in that weight room, showing more variety of people in there, can go a long way,” said Kirby.
Arnold wants students to know that once you’re inside, things get a lot easier.
“Once students start to feel safe and gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, that anxiety tends to fade pretty quickly,” he said. Additionally, both Arnold and Kirby point nervous students to friendly gym staff and a free strength training class specifically for women offered every Saturday morning from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Rec.
Feeling intimidated by the “fishbowl” isn’t a weakness, but instead a reasonable reaction to questionable design choices. However, overcoming gym anxiety is a powerful way to reclaim a space that everyone has an equal right to utilize.
Sarah Zieger (she/her) is a Journalism major and Opinion writer for The Front this quarter. When she's not holed up in a coffee shop writing this week's piece, you can find her drawing in a hammock somewhere off Chuckanut or lifting at the rec. You can reach her at sarahzieger.thefront@gmail.com.
