“It’s impressive that a little girl like you is playing around with free weights.” When a body-builder type hit me with that one at my hometown gym this summer, I wasn’t quite sure how to react. In fact, I couldn’t even tell if this was a compliment – he did use the word “impressive” – or an insult – “playing around.”

I get fewer patronizing looks and comments when I’m lifting at IMPE, but believe me, the intimidation factor is still there. It takes a lot of self-confidence for a 5’5″, 120-pound girl to walk into the free weight room, for instance, and compete for a bench with the guys lifting hundreds of pounds. Sometimes when IMPE is especially crowded, I can’t help feeling like the guys are annoyed that someone who only benches around 85 pounds is usurping a bench from the “real” lifters.

The gender problem is not limited to lifting. I also have a tough time getting onto a basketball court at IMPE. I love the game, but there’s no way in hell I’m about to ask some of those huge, fast guys waiting to play if I can jump in too. Getting together a team of girls proves to be just as futile an effort, since “winner take” seems to be the rule most courts abide by. Even if four other girls and I were able to wait around long enough to get into a game, we’d be crushed by the all-male opposing team.

A graduate of the University told me that IMPE used to have a court labeled “priority women,” which meant that female teams had priority but co-ed teams or male teams could pick up a game if no women wanted to use the court. This idea seems like such an obvious solution to the troubles basketball-adoring girls face at IMPE. It benefits everyone, since it gives girls a more fair chance to get into a pick-up game, and also saves the winning guys’ team from taking on the all-girls’ team that has been waiting around for an hour. C’mon, guys … I know you’d really rather play a team with a skill level closer to your own. And if, for whatever reason, there aren’t any women playing on the “priority women” court, have a go at it.

Thus, I propose that once WIMPE opens, one of the courts at IMPE or one of the new courts at WIMPE be designated “priority women.”

As for the lifting, I can only think of one way to reduce the intimidation factor for girls like me trying to get buff. More girls need to start lifting, and I’m not talking about dabbling with 5-pound dumbbells. I’m challenging all you women out there to use the machines, to bench and to use free weights.

I’m convinced that more girls don’t lift for two reasons. First, they simply don’t know how. Unlike most guys, they haven’t been taught by coaches or friends. However, this is not such an insurmountable hurdle. There are plenty of Web sites dedicated to women’s lifting for all those interested in learning. And it’s also possible to – gasp – ask friends, either male or female, to teach you.

The second reason more girls don’t lift is that they are afraid of developing man-muscle. Yet testosterone plays a larger role in muscle development than any other hormone, and women only have 10 percent the testosterone men have. Men also have taller, wider frames that support more muscle than a female frame. Thus, women who increase their strength significantly will look more toned than ripped.

So, to strengthen your bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, to burn fat and calories or to just plain get stronger, learn how to lift. It’s time to challenge our idea that women should stick to Stairmasters and work out only to get thinner and smaller; it’s time to work out to be healthy and strong instead. It’s time to recognize that our obsession with being thin comes from cultural expectations for women to be “small” and powerless in many aspects of life, not merely in the world of fitness. It’s time to strive for physical, as well as political and social strength

See you on the court, ladies.