I swear the most vitriolic Instagram comments I read are submitted by dudes who always have a million pictures of themselves taking selfies at the gym.
because for most of them being a gym rat is an expression of a bourgeois individualist conception of masculinity. they can afford to spend a lot of time, energy, and money on improving their physique and they think that's a better use of their time than stuff that would lead them to question their place in society.
I don't really think this is a good explanation since this includes anybody with any apolitical hobby/interest that costs some money
I think gymbros are just more likely to have toxic masculinity
I mean, is it wrong to assume that a lot of people with expensive hobbies have bad politics (I know, going to the gym isn't an expensive hobby lol)?
No, but it probably has more to do with their class position than the hobby.
if only we could have the same energy of a group of old ladies doing tai chi sessions together in beijing but for lifting
There's nothing inherently wrong with using exercise to change your body. But the "gym selfie" bro obviously has most of his personal sense of value tied to appearance, both his own and that of others. Fatphobia and ableism are going to be "gateway bigotries," that lead to racism, misogyny etc. and a PeRsOnAl ReSpOnsiBiLity/bootstraps sense of morality.
Some people that go to the gym that I know are absolute
in a good way. I'm talking volunteering for local unhoused relief efforts and stuff, and even at the gym just being patient and supportive of new and inexperienced people.One even taught me some very easy low-effort recipes to get more protein in my diet. I still use those too.
Now, "gymcels" are a real thing and those tend to be the people that are antisocial and obsessed with gains. They don't really gain much from those gains socially, just more bitterness.
Machismo mindset. They hate themselves for not being the biggest man on the planet, and they hate women and everyone else for not seeing them as the biggest man on the planet.
They had those politics prior to getting big. They're just more annoying now. I've met some cool power lifters.
A lot of cops are on roids and go to the gym a lot so gyms become cop spots, with blue line flags and shit like that. So there's a lot of chud shit going on at gyms.
Because a lot of them started out as skinny or fat incels with body image issues that Chuds took advantage of and radicalised though social media.
we go jim culture attracts lonely teenagers with body image issues which is basically the prime demographic for chuds
some gym guys are like, the strength-build equivalent of
gamers. think this is more a matter of people who pride themselves on their mortal flesh forme being more likely to hang on instagram, insta girlies can be evil & fucked up too but not as overtlyI dunno in my experience gym rats are relatively representative of their demos. Might be an experience that just exposes you to the incoherent reactionary nature of your peers.
