EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: Women choose to do cardio instead of lifting weights. That is a problem in the age of Trump, Loyola newspaper editor argues.
The real resistance training in the gym is lifting weights to resist Trump, according to the managing editor for the Loyola Phoenix.
Editor Julia Pentasuglio laments that “weight room still seems to be dominated by men while female students seemingly tend to crowd the cardio section.”
Even though this is obviously a matter of personal choice (the campus is 70 percent female), Pentasuglio said her fellow women are missing out on an opportunity to flex their political muscles.
She writes:
Under these conditions, the weight room becomes a gender-political space. As a woman, to exist and to train with the intent to not only get stronger, but to potentially grow bigger is the complete opposite of what modern conservatives find acceptable.
Especially under the Trump Administration — where the female body seems to be both a playground for lawmakers and an object to inflict political dominance under the guise of “pro-life” morals — taking ownership of the shape and power embedded in your own body is an act of protest.
Against this backdrop, Pentasuglio calls strength training “an act of radical disobedience when American popular culture continuously equates femininity with weakness.”
Yet, many women are not as smart and progressive as Pentasuglio so they vote for Trump.
“In 2024, 46% of women voters voted for Trump — up 2% from the 2020 election, indicating a shift toward MAGA ideology among women,” she wrote.
This means there is a “growing group of women who are okay with the anti-women rhetoric that persists in the White House.” She cites a list of supposedly “anti-women” actions taken by Trump, that range from supporting a temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood to tariffs.
The Loyola editor wants you to know that many women, including herself, “aren’t okay with subjugating women for the sake of the conservative party’s success.”
“I will continue to lift weights, get stronger and take pride in my body,” she promises, as a way to fight for “every woman…who Trump called ugly, fat, or dumb.”
MORE: Trump admin cancels grants studying ‘LGBTQ’ and ‘multiethnic’ comic books
