Discussion of the Rulebook and Place

“There is a beginning and end to such rules, to the rules of a place. They can literally be enumerated: they can be known. And they are known” (Wood & Beck, pp 3).

Place is an extremely complex, yet simple word. The word place is used in a variety of different contexts. Place can signal ownership, privacy, social hierarchy, and physical location. Ping is a physical location (Cresswell, pp. 1-2) The official description of the place is, “The Charles J. Ping Recreation Center is a 168,000 square foot recreation facility, spanning 3 floors.” (Ohio University, 2019). Ping Recreation Center is located at 82 South Green Drive Athens, Ohio 45701. These descriptions may be enough to describe the physical aspects of the place, but there is so much meaning attached to Ping and this meaning can change amongst time and space.

Our group specifically observed the Functional Fitness Room located inside of Ping. This is a place within a larger place, raising the importance of understanding how perceptions of place can change within even one building. The Functional Fitness Room is a big open space with more than 50 different workout machines and weights, located on the first floor of Ping. For some people, Ping and the Functional Fitness Room might have a meaning associated with progress and hard work. For others, it might be associated with anxiety, exclusion, and difficulties. These meanings are created from social experiences and context. Place and its meanings are dynamic. “But place is also a way of seeing, knowing and understanding the world. When we look at the world as a world of places, we see different things. We see attachments and connections between people and place. We see worlds of meaning and experience” (Cresswell, pp.11). A female might have a different conception of the Fitness Room than a man. The same might be true of people of differing abilities, body types, and races.

An important component to understanding how people of different social identities and groups relate to and perceive the Functional Fitness Room is understanding the rules, both spoken and unspoken. Rules are an important part of place making. Every place has some sort of rulebook, which is not always official. There is no law stating people should walk on the right side of the sidewalk, but most people do that to follow a sort of unspoken rule. The Functional Fitness Room is no different and has countless rules.

At first glance, it may seem obvious as to why there are rules in a place like Ping’s Functional Fitness Room. It is assumed that the rules function for the safety and well-being of people who inhabit the room. Many of the rules appear to function for the protection of both the equipment and physical objects in the room, as well as protecting people from the equipment. The requirement of safety bars, athletic shoes, controlled movements in the place, and the returning of all equipment works to maintain a safe environment in the room and protect others from harm. Most of the safety rules are explicitly expressed on the website for Ping Recreation center or on a sign in the room.

The idea that the rules are there to protect relates back to Wood and Becks work and their description of an object broken by a child. Wood and Beck discuss how destruction goes both ways, to the child and the material object in the room. “When a rule has this function in the regulation of the living known as the room, we indicate it thus: PRO, noting that it is more or less oriented toward protecting the thing with a prefixal t (tPRO), more or less oriented toward protecting the kid with a prefixal k (kPRO).” (Wood & Beck, pp. 15). Not only are the rules in place to protect the people observing the rules, but also the objects they pertain to.

Other rules work to exclude or discourage the use of the room by certain groups. As soon as a person walks in the place, an employee asks for an Ohio University student ID. While non-university students are allowed to purchase a pass from Ping, the entrance is an immediate reminder of who is expected in this place and who is not allowed. This also speaks to Wood and Beck’s idea of rules used for control. The act of asking for an ID or pass controls who is allowed and permitted to the place.

Some of the unspoken rules and expectations observed were don’t talk too much, especially to those you didn’t come to the gym with, and don’t be in someone’s personal space. Most of the unspoken rules seemed to surround the idea of privacy. The Functional Fitness Room is not typically thought of as a social environment, but rather as a place for physical improvement, concentration, and goals. These unspoken rules are enforced through behaviors and experiences.

Both spoken and unspoken rules are generally geared toward safety and enabling people to best perform and work out in the space; however, it must also be noted that many groups and individuals have a different conception of place. Observations revealed that those in the Functional Fitness Room are majority male and the majority of the males and females had body types that appeared to work out regularly. While these observations are limited and have assumptions, it appears that certain groups such as females, those who have never worked out, and overweight people may feel as if the space does not fit or include them. From talking to female friends, I have often heard that they would never go to the weight room or are too intimidated to use the equipment. There is no rule that states certain types of people are not allowed access to the room, but social meanings and experiences instill a feeling of exclusion in some people.

References

Cresswell, Tim. 2004. Place: A Short Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Pp. 1-12.

Ohio University. (2019). Charles J. Ping recreation center. Retrieved from https://www.ohio.edu/recreation/ping

Wood, Denis and Robert J. Beck. Home Rules. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press. Pp. 1-7, 13-23