Last month I started attending Zumba class. This is a new experience for me and one I wish I would have gone for sooner. I love everything about it...the music, the movement and the feeling I get when the two combine. There are times that I get caught up in the music and the rhythm of the steps and I feel so good and am without a care in the world during class. It makes me feel powerful. It makes me feel strong.Then there are times it makes me feel like I'm in high school again.
I can't say that I noticed it right away, but I have come to the realization that some of the behavior of certain women in our class mirrors some of the behavior I encountered in high school. There is the obligatory clique, the class clown, the clothes horse, and of course the queen bee. There are the kids who hide in the back row of class hoping not to be noticed and so is there the teacher's pet front and center. There is also that annoying specimen of female that I tend to dislike. The girl who liked to play the girlie card in gym class when a softball, volleyball, soccer ball or basketball came her way.
You know this girl. She's not unattractive. She shows up with hair done and in full make up for occasions that call for casual naturalness. She pretends to be uncoordinated but never really tries to find out what she's capable of athletically. She'd rather stand and giggle as a ball zooms past rather than exert herself and try to hit it. She thinks she's cute. The rest of us do not.
I encountered a pair of such specimens in Zumba class last week. With a class nearly filled to capacity this duo sauntered in late and hastily squeezed in a spot where there really wasn't room. It's not that newcomers aren't welcome, but this pair was clueless and incapable of taking cues from the other ladies. They giggled their way through each segment with one actually dropping down to the floor in a fit of giggles when the two of them collided. Neither of them exerted themselves to any extent, likely so as not to mess the long, flowing, curled hair they left untied, mostly hanging in their faces, as they attempted to follow the movements but not really making any real effort. In between songs they primped and restyled their hair. They complained at the tempo of class while sharing a bottle of Snapple and even reapplied lip balm after drinking.
During class I stayed focused on the instructor but would from time to time glance at them with amusement. I found myself thinking back to my high school gym teacher and what she would have made of this pair. My high school gym teacher was an exceptionally interesting woman, far ahead of her time. We called her "Coach". She rode a Harley to school, she wore sweats, she dropped curse words. She was attractive and well dressed outside of class. She coached the basketball and track teams and was very successful in her career. Her approach was tough but she cared deeply about her girls and preparing us for the future, believing that physical education was just as important a component of a girls' education as any other discipline taught at school. She took the position of role model seriously and never missed an opportunity to make sure we knew that her door was open to us always.
She wanted us to understand the need to be physically fit but more importantly she wanted us to test ourselves and find our strengths both physically and mentally. This was the early 70s and she wanted to see us to learn to redefine femininity through athletics and to dispel the notion of "dyke" as a label applied to girls interested in sports. She showed us how to develop good self esteem by challenging us to push ourselves beyond what we thought we could be capable. She didn't want to hear excuses, she didn't want us to quit on ourselves before we had tried our best. She had no patience for giggly girls who would not participate in class.
I was intent that my own daughter not become one of those giggly girls. I signed her up for ballet class and basketball camp. She took piano lessons and was on a swim team. She's always been physically fit. She's not exceptionally athletic but she has never not made time for physical activity. She's feminine and stylish. She's delicate but she's also strong. She runs, works out and is in the same Zumba class as I am. In fact she's the one who asked me to join her, gently reminding me of my own lack of interest in physical activity as of late. I've been neglecting and she's been lecturing. She's been pushing me to get back to the gym and not accepting the myriad of excuses I can produce for my absence. She understands the need to be physically fit but more importantly she knows the importance of testing ourselves to find our strengths both physically and mentally.
Coach would be so proud.
Indeed
