Pussy. Riot.

I've never been a joiner. I got kicked out of the Bluebirds when I was in grade school, I got kicked out of Jr. High for having a picture of David Bowie Diamond Dogs on my locker door and then mouthing off to the vice principal about it, and I hated making posters for the football team when I was a cheerleader in high school ( I specifically only wanted to dance and cheer.) Even as an adult in my capacity as a fitness professional I've been asked to participate in something called vision boarding. Um. No.

Side note: How many male professionals do you think sit around and cut crap out of magazines, glue it on a piece of poster board and wish upon it real hard so that one day their dreams may come true?
I've never understood why It falls upon the woman in a straight relationship to be the one to send thank you notes, or Holiday cards. I am always acutely aware that when my in laws or husbands friends stop over, that I will be the one who is judged if the house isn't clean, and there aren't appetizers and drinks on hand. I grew up in the 60's and 70's in a housing development that rivaled Mad Men. The ladies stayed home, smoked cigarettes, drank a little, and gossiped about each other. My mom worked full time. Actually more than full time. Maybe that is why she never had time to teach me the rules of the herd. She certainly excels at the lady games when she wants to. She's from the south, and was in a sorority. I'll just leave it at that.
I think, however that my general adverse reaction to joining in, and towing the line comes from a.) A deep seeded sensitivity to fairness ( I'm the youngest of 6 kids, connect the dots) and b.) a nearly pathological need to question everything. Like EVERYTHING.
Although this has served me well at many times in my life; my 20's come to mind, it has not always served me positively.  Specifically with my peers professionally.
Group fitness is an industry driven by and for women for the most part. As much as we would like to have men join our classes, the truth is that it is wildly skewed toward the ladies. The work is physically taxing many times, and after paying for gas, music, continuing education, time taken to create programming, and buying gear, many group fitness instructors barely break even. It is often times an ego driven operation, gauged by class size, and compensated not by way of monetary wages, but by way of acceptance and popularity. It is also an arena generally adverse to oppositional viewpoints and dependent on assimilation from all.

Conversely, the personal training industry is very male dominated. From presenters, to coaches, to bloggers, to random health club PTs men are, for the most part the dominant voice in personal training. The work is for the most part not physically demanding, and in keeping with the free market structure, trainers base much of their  personal value on what they charge. If they produce, they charge for it. It is also an arena where oppositional opinions are meted out via science, and not met with scorn or banishment. Alas, most trainers I know thrive on varying viewpoints, and  on comparing and contrasting protocols. Of course it too can be ego driven(what's not?) But it's also monetarily driven.

Is it a coincidence that the group fitness profession is populated  with women, driven by popularity, and adverse to non conformity,  while personal training, mainly populated with men is driven primarily by science, money, and opposing views?
Don't get me wrong, I love group fitness. I have just been wondering if the stereotypes that I have bucked for so long are alive and well in an industry in which I have spent 26 years of my life...........