MY FEMINIST OUTRAGE, LET ME SHOW YOU IT

[rydra_wong]

I only noticed this today.

The (excellent, cheap, local, council-run) gym which I am now visiting for barbell-lifting purposes has two free weights areas.

There's the free weights room, which is marvellous. It has several squat racks, Olympic barbells and lighter ones, huge numbers of weight plates (of all sizes, including very light ones) and dumbells, and all sorts of benches (multiple angles) and cages and pull-down machines and chin-up bars and so on. It is big and shiny and full of toys.

Then, in the main section of the gym where all the cardio machines are, there is a small area marked out by mats. It has three plain benches, a large rack of small dumbells and a rack of little barbells with fixed weights. And a BodyPump poster.

On both occasions I've visited, I've been the only woman in the free weights room.

(Though I will note that the large bodybuilding and powerlifting dudes there have not batted an eyelid at my presence, or been anything other than courteous and friendly.)

And today I noticed that, of course, the people using the other free weights area are female.

There's nothing that overtly says that this is the Girls' Weights Area. There doesn't need to be.

And I know that free weights rooms in gyms can seem very intimidating to women.

But I do not think this is a good solution.

Comments

[rydra_wong]

honestly I can see some value to, considering how many women might not want to go into a heavily male-dominated area to experiment with something new

Oh, hell yeah. But if they really wanted to change that, then they could -- for example -- have some women's weightlifting workshops (that's how I learned how to do barbell lifts).

Or even a women-only evening or session once a week (leaving aside the potentially problematic issues of gender policing).

Instead, it feels like they've recognized that there are women people who do the BodyPump classes and have some interest in weights but who don't feel comfortable going into the free weight room, and have tried to provide something -- but ended up creating this little dead end.

Which also means that the free weight room stays all male (apart from me) and stays just as intimidating and alienating.

[opusculus]

That's a really good point. I was just thinking in terms of "well, at least they're trying to provide a place?" But I hadn't thought far enough to think that the fact that they realized it was a potential problem and that was their best solution makes it even worse.

My continued rage, let me show you it

[rydra_wong]

I just got round to reading the membership pack of leaflets I handed, and it turns out that they have a tonne of "ladies only" classes, including the "Pump It Up" ones (which I'm guessing are BodyPump minus the franchise fee).

So, yanno. If they're okay with women-only classes in principle and think that's a useful strategy, they could timetable a women-only session for the free weights room. But I bet it didn't even occur to them.