“Toughness is an advantageous trait in this context—hence the popularity of female boxing classes and sweat-drenched gym workouts.”
Female boxing isn’t all that popular, and most young women are at the gym to improve their appearance for attracting men.
I see women boxing, and if they are doing it for simple physical conditioning, I suppose that is as good as anything, and probably fun too, since it looks like an avenue for working out tensions.
But when I see a woman boxing, trying to look tough, and people building it up, I regard it as stupidity. If she tries that on a guy, she might get lucky, but more likely, she is going to be in trouble when she finds out it isn’t how they show it in the movies.
Boxing skills learned in a gym for the purposes of conditioning are one thing. Boxing skills learned in a gym for “toughness” or self-defense is stupidity.
If a female wants self defense, she should have instruction on defensive tactics that work, like specific defensive techniques or even possibly grappling, not boxing. I see the things where they show a woman gritting her teeth working on a heavy bag, looking like Rocky Balboa, and I can’t think of a stupider thing.