Examining my Gym Bag

My name is Emily MacDougall. Here is a picture of me getting ready to start a triathlon at my local beach in my hometown of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Although the gym bag is not visible in the triathlon photo; it is the bag that I use almost daily to help prepare to participate in this triathlon each summer. 

The contents of my gym bag have the necessities I need to train for the swim and run portions of the triathlon. The swim suit, flip flops, goggles and bathing cap are essential for swimming laps in the pool; whereas the running shoes, exercise bands and water bottle provide me with the necessary equipment for the running portion of the event. I have transitioned to biking outside so the bike gear has been moved to my garage. The deodorant and shampoo remain in my bag for my after workout showers. In addition to the essential gym gear, you can see that I take my cell phone and Airpods for both music and communication and I take my car keys for transportation. Although I take my phone to the gym, I prefer to write my workouts on paper and you can see two of these old workouts in the picture. One is written on the back of a paint swatch which is evidence of a current renovation project. Finally, there is evidence in this picture that we are still in a pandemic: hand sanitizer and a mask are still staple items in my gym bag. 

For most of these items the text is physically printed on the object: the label on the shampoo and hand sanitizer and the wording on the deodorant. The written workouts are physical texts produced by me and digital texts would be evident if my cell phone was turned on in the picture. These texts indicate to the observer that I am an active individual who plans her workouts and who lives far enough away from the gym that transportation and showering at the gym are necessities. 

Text technologies are any item that facilitates communication, therefore the labels on the materials (hand sanitizer, shampoo, deodorant) can be considered text technology as they help communicate the functionality of the item. The written workout communicates the gym plan for the day and the cell phone helps me stay connected in case I need to communicate with my husband or children. 

This activity has been interesting as each bag that I commonly use would provide a different image of me. If I had chosen to show you the contents of my purse; you would see a disorganized mom, who has large to-do lists and kids that constantly need snacks. If I was to show you the contents of my school bag, you would see an organized teacher who is slightly behind on her marking. However, I decided to show you the contents of my gym bag which gives the reader an accurate impression that I am an active and competitive person. We are all multi-faceted humans and I decided to show the reader the active side of my personality. 

A gym bag from 25 years ago would have three obvious differences from my current bag. First, a cell phone and Airpods would not exist, thus, a Discman or walkman would have been the means to listen to music. Second, the swimming and running gear would still be present, but the technology would not have been as advanced. My googles would have been bulkier and less streamlined and my sneakers would have been less cushioned and perhaps heavier. Finally, 25 years ago there was no fear of a contagious virus therefore a mask and hand sanitizer would be absent from my bag. 

I imagine that an archaeologist would examine the contents of my bag and quickly be able to identify the time period based on the hand sanitizer and mask. The cell phone technology would also provide tools to identify the time period. Running and swimming are pretty basic activities in which the gear has not changed much over time; I wonder if the archeologist would be surprised at the lack of improvements or if they would laugh at the basic training gear that we used in 2022.