I *calmly* shut down unwanted male attention today!

[wolfe17]

@karin70 OMG. One of my pet peeves, these idiots who think they know better because they have a Y chromosome. I work in a gym, and I have had to intervene a few times when a man and woman (often a couple) are in the gym and he is trying to get her to do something stupid or unsafe. One idiot had his girlfriend doing standing straight-leg glute raises with a pulley "really fast so you can lose weight". The weight was so heavy, she was throwing her head and shoulders back as she tried to extend her leg. I got in the middle of it before she could rupture a disc or something.

 

[shadesofblue]

@wolfe17 This is 100% my pet peeve, when guys in the gym are “training” their girlfriends and teaching them to do everything wrong. I try not to get involved unless it’s going to cause an injury, but it’s hard to watch.

 

[karin70]

@wolfe17 Omg! I can’t even imagine...

 

[isaiahb]

@karin70 That's awesome how you handled it. I'm sorry you have to put up with that sort of behavior when you're trying to train.

 

[azel]

@karin70 That’s right, jambroni! You’re not wanted here!!

 

[bartrila]

@karin70

It’s like, they feel threatened to see a woman capable of fighting and need to reassert their dominance by putting me back into my place by letting me know they know more.

Exactly. Obviously not all men, but many do this.

I am in a male dominated field. Many are very scared of a powerful women and it shows. Again, not all of them, some are great.

The ones that are scared often act out in ways that is unfortunate. Unfortunate for them that is.

 

[preshess]

@karin70 You handled your sitch very well. I have fallen into the habit of just going completely lax in the face when anyone looks in my direction, and responding in the most vacuous but dismissive way possible. Boys hate boring girls.

 

[karin70]

@preshess I’ll put boring/ vacuous into my “look” toolkit!

Thanks for the idea

 

[karin70]

@ayryil Yes! I use the dead stare too - usually reserved for when I’m out in the world, walking around.

It takes nerves of steel for me sometimes, but worth it.

 

[jadestarr]

@karin70 OP I love the way you write! Everything about this post made me smile.

 

[karin70]

@jadestarr Thank you! Appreciate that!

 

[efraim7praise]

@karin70 Proud of you!!

A while back I had a gut come up and try to correct my Romanian deadlift. After I told him I wasn’t interested and got really salty and passive aggressive.

“I was just going to tell you to make sure to use your back, but never mind”

What he didn’t know is that I gave scoliosis and I was using my back. However, my back shoulders are not very strong and they hunch forward.

I wanted to say something about it, but also felt I didn’t owe him an explanation.

 

[karin70]

@efraim7praise Yeah, it’s the salty and passive aggressive that is problematic!

You absolutely didn’t own him anything! You know what’s best for your body and movement patterns!

 

[sergiiz332]

@karin70 Love this! You were direct, matter of fact, and didn’t let him interrupt your workout. Basically you told him to stay in his lane.

 

[echegoyen]

@karin70 I have a few workout shirts with prints like "I'm good on my own" "I dislike attention" and "I'm jumpy - come too close and I might drop a weight on you"
They do the trick pretty well. Actually get more chuckles, smiles and thumbs up than guys interrupting me now. Was 100% worth the investment.

 

[cactus_jack68]

@echegoyen I have one that just says NO on it and it works so well.

 

[dawn16]

@cactus_jack68 Love this

 

[cactus_jack68]

@dawn16 I got it from here they have a lot of shirts that can shut men up, I never regret a buy from there.

 

[karin70]

@echegoyen That’s amazing! I’m going to look for those!

I love that it’s clear communication + some humor, which is really my ideal way to deal with things.

 

[kabriana]

@karin70 You handled that PERFECTLY. I probably would have been overly polite too and that’s something I definitely need to work on.

Also, you’re making me miss my cardio boxing gym in LA