How my gym views women

[7thdayrest]

@joyelade "if I can do it, so can you" mentality always sends me into a higher level of anger than anything else.

If I saw that poster, I would never go back and would actively discourage all my friends from going there too.

 

[martinprince]

@debyfabienne i search for women's and lgbt gyms all the time, hoping something new opens up.

all the women's gyms here turned out to be cardio circuits and yoga rooms. i just want to get under a barbell without some guy running up, tipping my bar and saying "i got you"

 

[nebula1]

@martinprince Does this happen to you? I honestly thought this was a tiktok thing

 

[martinprince]

@nebula1 i don't have a good idea what they're saying on tiktok but yeah, this specifically happened to me. it's really stuck with me. how he grabbed the bar lopsidedly was dangerous... and just that he reacted in a panic like someone seeing a toddler with a gun.

i won't say it's common, what's common is old men wanting me to take my ear buds out and stop my set so he can talk about the weather.

there are lots of things men, especially the much older and very young guys, do at gyms that annoy the crap out of me.. but i also just really like working out with women. idk, there's a lot of reasons i'd prefer a gym space more aligned towards women, but apparently the demand is not high enough in my area

 

[kenjisan70]

@debyfabienne This really makes me appreciate my gym even more. We do have one sort of annoying photo (the ancient Marilyn poster where she's benching the 5-lb dumbbells in her bra) and it's back in the hallway where the women's locker room door is, but all the other imagery in the gym is competition photos, both strength/strongman and bodybuilding. Some of our members, some of legends. The gym regularly posts Reels of both women and men hitting PRs and/or competing in meets. There are a few signs reminding people to rack their weights...no graphics, just words. I guess I'm truly lucky to have found this place.

 

[umskiptar]

@debyfabienne I think this went straight over your head.

First sign is playing at a man's insecurity of women being more capable then them.

The second sign is playing off guys who want to please women....

And yes these signs are both aimed at men. Guys are notorious for this shit, women much less so.

 

[whirlygirl]

@umskiptar

First sign is playing at a man's insecurity of women being more capable then them.

And fuck that. I'm tired of being surrounded by this shit. Why do men need to tear women down for their motivation? Op is dead on, and I think maybe that went over your head.

 

[theodoulos]

@umskiptar And it’s still sexist and gross. Next.

 

[sarahdosher]

@umskiptar No, I don't think it went over the OP's head. The OP got the point, but the way the points were made was sexist.

 

[baberean2]

@umskiptar

• thank you gif * I was scrolling nervously to find this.

 

[dawn16]

@umskiptar Agree that OP totally misunderstood the signs, but disagree that means they aren't sexist. They totally are. Why even bring gender into something like "put away your weights"? If you want to be funny about it, say "we've got some kids who will put away your weights for you if you're not strong enough". Adult women visit the gym and they don't need signs implicitly calling them weak.

 

[egm3248]

@umskiptar It's still sexist and gross, but yes, this is the "humor" angle they're coming from.

 

[nebula1]

@debyfabienne Complain and suggest maybe they need to take on more female staff and personal trainers. The culture has obviously become toxic if they think this is funny

 

[ulkon]

@debyfabienne If I could make a suggestion, it would be to politely but firmly complain in person to onsite management, followed up with an email to the corporate office that is copied to the local branch.

If that doesn't get some change, I would start a petition, getting signatures of other gym members asking for change. That would be forwarded on to corporate, copied to local branch, and posted on social media.

 

[debyfabienne]

@ulkon This is exactly the actionable advice I was needing. Step 1 is done. I’ll get on the email right away!

 

[sammy28]

@debyfabienne Is this by any chance in Germany since the ad is in German? If so you could also report it to pinkstinks, they have a directory of sexist advertising and you can report any sexist ads that you find on their website.

 

[angelsanon]

@debyfabienne That’s terrible. I go to Powerhouse which was founded as a bodybuilding gym and they would never post anything like that

 

[wag225]

@debyfabienne This sucks! Are you in Germany?

I'd love to see other posters from gyms in other parts of the world.

 

[johnsdani]

@wag225 I go to fitx in NRW (also in Germany). Not sure if they have branches in other states. They do suffer from the airbrushed women problem, but nothing like this. In fact, the weight room has almost the same amount of men and women (I'm including the women only weight room in my count because most women end up using it).

Hella cheap, really crowded, but I'm ultimately happy that I don't have to go through bullshit stuff.

 

[debyfabienne]

@wag225 Yes I am! And I also would very much be interested in that.