I guess my #1 issue at the gym is that I’m overweight, and have struggled with being “the chubby girl” ever since I was like 5 years old. I feel hyper-self-conscious at the gym because of that.
I go to Planet Fitness, which has tried like hell (and mostly succeeded) to set itself apart from the typical “meat market” mentality at lots of gyms.
Printed on most of the machines and on the walls are the words “you belong” and “judgement-free zone.”
And there really are all kinds of people there; old and young, thin and not-so-thin, professional body-builder types and people who just need to work out to blow off steam.
It’s nice to have that kind of built-in affirmation, but any kind of gym environment is still stressful.

Also, as far as the ‘atheist’ thing, I really relate to the idea of not having to be labeled by it, like, why should you have to be defined by the fact that you don’t happen to believe in God?

And I LOVED it when Stephy said “agnostic who practices Christianity.”
That pretty much describes me, too.

xo

http://www.epbot.com/2012/11/toy-catalog-goes-gender-neutral-looks.html

My husband was having a really hard time understanding why it was such a big issue to me (woman’s rights) – in his eyes, of COURSE we are all equal. So why make an issue about it? Then the convo turned to his older brother, who is the family darling (despite the fact that he is a 38 year old baby). My husband was expressing his anger at his brother ALWAYS being put first. I then related that anger and need to express himself (even though he is equal with his brother, he feels pushed down by everyone in the family), to my need to express myself as a woman … and he stopped in his tracks, finally understanding