It’s also probably one of the few places that will somewhat survive the complete atomization of our society as the last public-ish area you can be somewhere on your own volition, doing something positive, being surrounded by people.
When I go to the gym, I talk to nobody of the people I don't know already, and I've never seen people starting conversations with someone they don't know. It's a completely atomized place. You might be in the same space, but that's it. In a cinema you're also in the same place, but you don't get to know the person sitting next to you either.
Regardless of how you personally engage with your fitness experience - the feeling of being in these spaces whether you engage or not is inherently positive and important to a healthy society. My experience is the contrary. All the daily gym rats and power lifters are on first name basis with not only each other - but the personal trainers and/or managers of the gyms, and lo and behold they're all new age conservative psychos.
The point of this statement and the theme of my original comment is that we as leftists should focus on reenvisioning the gym and create inclusive socialist fitness spaces that would act more as a community gathering space. Rather than the alt-right reactionary spaces they are now.
When I go to the gym, I talk to nobody of the people I don't know already, and I've never seen people starting conversations with someone they don't know. It's a completely atomized place. You might be in the same space, but that's it. In a cinema you're also in the same place, but you don't get to know the person sitting next to you either.
Regardless of how you personally engage with your fitness experience - the feeling of being in these spaces whether you engage or not is inherently positive and important to a healthy society. My experience is the contrary. All the daily gym rats and power lifters are on first name basis with not only each other - but the personal trainers and/or managers of the gyms, and lo and behold they're all new age conservative psychos.
The point of this statement and the theme of my original comment is that we as leftists should focus on reenvisioning the gym and create inclusive socialist fitness spaces that would act more as a community gathering space. Rather than the alt-right reactionary spaces they are now.