(You want to know something. I really resent having to call him "NOT YET". It has all the excitement to it of non-alcoholic beer. You know what they say about non-alcoholic beer...Get the Gut but not the buzz. On that note I am just going to stick to calling him Dr.)
Hey Shank,
The other day I read this article which was written by a Dude who stated that Female Personal Trainers have it harder.
What do you think?
Signed,
Beta Male
(I had to post this picture to balance out the implied Oprahness of that question.)
Dear Beta,
I have no idea what this article is that you are talking about. Therefore I cannot comment directly on the "Dude" in question. Still, being known as a person who "Comes With Opinions" whether my advice is sought out or not, let me weigh in.
When I read your email the first thought that came across my rather large head was whomever wrote that article must have been watching a lot of the Lifetime Channel recently:
(Thanks Family Guy!)
The second thought that came across my rather large head was it might be more productive to your personal training career to beat yourself repeatedly over the head with the solid wood cutting board I am using to rest the nice London Broil I just made, than it is to spend a lot of time entertaining the question you asked:
Here is why.
There is no doubt that Women have had and will continue to in the future, face considerable challenges because of nothing more than their gender. They don't own the patent on persecution, they just have a large number of shareholders. As my client Mary Jane Augustine, who is an incredibly accomplished attorney once said "We were an entire generation of women raised to be nothing more than pretty little potted plants":
(Now this post is heading back in the right direction.)
Here is why.
There is no doubt that Women have had and will continue to in the future, face considerable challenges because of nothing more than their gender. They don't own the patent on persecution, they just have a large number of shareholders. As my client Mary Jane Augustine, who is an incredibly accomplished attorney once said "We were an entire generation of women raised to be nothing more than pretty little potted plants":
(It has always amazed me how any society, culture or method of faith believes that human beings can achieve their full potential by expecting 50% of the population to relegate themselves to this.)
And yet I still challenge the statement "Women Personal Trainers have it Harder" based on the following two criteria:
1. What is the point and value? Let's just say that women do have to work three or four times harder to achieve just as much. I realize that is a blanket statement that is not accurate in every situation but for the point of argument let's just entertain it for a second.
If our duty as trainers is to, as New York Sports Clubs would put it, "Improve our Clients Lives Through Exercise" then I would like to know how is bringing up the fact that Women face unique challenges in our society (let alone the world) going to advance that mission? (Authors note: I am technologically incapable of putting that little TM over the end of the preceding statement so please note that New York Sports Clubs and its parent group Town Sports International has ownership over that phrase. I am simply not witty enough to come up with something that original by myself.)
If our duty as trainers is to, as New York Sports Clubs would put it, "Improve our Clients Lives Through Exercise" then I would like to know how is bringing up the fact that Women face unique challenges in our society (let alone the world) going to advance that mission? (Authors note: I am technologically incapable of putting that little TM over the end of the preceding statement so please note that New York Sports Clubs and its parent group Town Sports International has ownership over that phrase. I am simply not witty enough to come up with something that original by myself.)
(If you feel the need to be filled in on all the bad things that have happened to women since time immemorial I am sure this little sunflower will be glad to talk your ear off about it.)
Please understand that I do not question the need to discuss the subject as we all owe a duty to our society to try and stamp out inequality whenever possible if for no other reason that the positive advancement of all mankind. I just question what value it has to you as a trainer and the level of service you provide to you clients. Maybe if we were discussing hiring and promotion practices within facilities then that would be one thing but that is not what this blog is about.
2. It is true there are stereotypes out there, held by some people but definitely not all, that women trainers are soft, they aren't smart enough, they don't command respect or they have to have a certain body type to be noticed. The fact that this exists pretty much sucks and it results in some pretty crappy consequences. But you what, when it comes to being prejudged, women, let alone women trainers, don't own the exclusive rights. Stocky looking meatheads like me often get looks of amazement when we have an educated opinion on anything outside the subject of whey protein.
I have been around long enough to know that you aren't going to change somebody's viewpoint by complaining or writing articles. You might raise some awareness but in most cases you only further entrench the poopstain like beliefs in the toilet bowl such an ignoramus calls a head:
(I admit this makes us trainers look bad.)
I have been around long enough to know that you aren't going to change somebody's viewpoint by complaining or writing articles. You might raise some awareness but in most cases you only further entrench the poopstain like beliefs in the toilet bowl such an ignoramus calls a head:
(You think I am going to change either one of these guys viewpoints by telling them how big a pair of douche bags I think they are? Didn't think so.)
Your professional life is not a pissing contest (seated or standing) about who has it harder:
(In this corner, the Stander....)
(...And in this corner the sitter)
Your professional life is about being effective. It is not about perching yourself higher on that cross your chose to bear in an effort to look down on every body else who you think has it easier than you.
The only choice you really do have, at least the one that is within your control, is if somebody thinks you are stupid because of what you have chosen to do for a living then you need to go read a book and prove them wrong. If somebody thinks you cannot be effective at your job because once a month you may become a little more moody than usual then the only choice you have which is actually within your control is to attend a seminar, or read a book or do some freaking thing so that you become so good at what you do that nobody short of a complete ass hat will be able to deny your effectiveness.
Does this solve all the problems? Hell no! Some people are jerks and that is what they are content to be. It's just you can waste an entire lifetime worrying and fighting things that are not within your ability to influence them:
Does this solve all the problems? Hell no! Some people are jerks and that is what they are content to be. It's just you can waste an entire lifetime worrying and fighting things that are not within your ability to influence them:
(This is Lisa Randall. She is considered one of the most brilliant Physicists in the world. While burning bra's may have opened the opportunity for her and a lot of other women, they didn't have anything to do with the hard work and God given gifts that got her where she is today.)
Now if you are currently focusing not on being a "Super Trainer" but instead you are trying to understand your fellow human beings a little better through empathy and feeling then read away about articles dealing with the plight of women trainers, vegan trainers, one eyed trainers, meatheads or whatever have you. Understanding where your clients and coworkers might be coming from is a huge part of being good at this job. I can tell you for a fact that if that is what you are working on, the the last person I would listen to is this guy:
(That insensitive bastard is me. The reason why I know he has no interest in really expanding upon these subjects is because if there is one thing life has taught him besides the fact that dogs are awesome it's that other peoples opinion of him are none of his God Damn business.)
We at Personal Training Power understand that a hard style approach to all of life's challenges is not always the best choice (trust me I can tell you for a fact Mr. Surely up there is working on that). It's just next time somebody craps on you especially over something that is so out of your control like gender, sexual orientation, status as an Eagles Fan or being a meathead you'd be best reminded its ok to get mad, get angry and get pissed. But then you have a duty to yourself and the greater good of the world around you to do something about it that goes above and beyond just bitching to anybody who will listen.
(Only Mike Cruickshank's pillow knows the tears he has cried over the years of Meathead discrimination he has faced.)
In conclusion Beta you need to understand that I get it. It's only that I just see a specific value in the subject that is very limited when it comes to what you bring to the table everyday to the people whose bodies you were meant to serve.
But then again what the hell do I know.
But then again what the hell do I know.
Yours in lipid emulsification,
Mike Cruickshank
(Voting rights, reproductive rights, equal pay for equal work...you could go on and on about all the challenges that women in our society face...)
(...but then again you could say the same thing for hundreds of thousands of young men who died in all the wars started and escalated by old men.)
(You may not have known this but there are actually eight women engraved on the wall at the Vietnam War Memorial. One is Sharon Ann Lane, an army nurse, who was killed by a Viet Cong rocket a month before her 26th birthday. The other 58,187 names on that wall, they are all men. I say that not to minimize the sacrifice made by those eight women, I say it to drive home a point some people who claim that all men in our society have all the power should seriously consider.)
