1 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Hi, this is Annie and this is Pritchett, and you're 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: listening to stuff Mom never told you. Today we're talking 3 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: about sexism at the gym, and I wanted to start 4 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: out with an anecdote that um has less to do 5 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: with sexism and more to do with problems at the gym. 6 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: But a couple of years ago, I went back home 7 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: to visit my parents. My parents live in a really 8 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: small town, and UM, I found these really old weights, 9 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: like dumbbells, and they were arrested and metallic, and I 10 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: decided I wanted to lift them because I like lifting weights, 11 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: and um, I was also trying to avoid a big 12 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: party my parents were having downstairs, which is really funny 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 1: because spoiler alert, I ruined the party. And this is 14 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,720 Speaker 1: not the first time the duff this. Um. So I 15 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 1: was lifting the weights like, I guess that's a bench press, 16 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: but I didn't have a bench I was just on 17 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: the floor and the rust had eaten away at the 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: spiral keeping the weight on. It fell right on my 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: face and my tooth. It was like powder. It dissolved 20 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: like powder. Yeah, and I so I'm panicking. I look 21 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: in the mirror and UM, as I mentioned before, I've 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: done some acting and I'm like, my career is over. 23 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: I have only one specific type of role I can 24 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:46,040 Speaker 1: get from your so because I'm I am less than 25 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: smart when it comes to my health. I finished my 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: workout circuit and then I went downstairs. I was trying 27 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: to avoid everybody and I managed to um. But when 28 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: I got outside, they're all of these cars parked behind 29 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: my car because I was trying to get to a 30 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: dentist right and UM, I had to go inside interrupt 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: my parents nice party and with my broken two and 32 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: ask everyone to move their cars. And so that happened. 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: And then because I was not where I live and 34 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: it was a Saturday, no dentist was open, No nowhere 35 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: was going to help me out except for one I 36 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: found off of a strip. And when I came in, 37 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: they didn't speak English. They only spoke Russian. And I've 38 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: never gotten like any kind of tooth work done before 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: other than wisdom teeth getting out. So they showed me 40 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: like this big needle and they're they're like not. I thought, well, 41 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: this is it for me, but it all turned out 42 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: and they replaced the tube. And now you can only 43 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: tell because when I drink coffee are are wine because 44 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: it stains differently. You have a you have a fake 45 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: tooth in your head. All this time I've been friends 46 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:01,679 Speaker 1: with you, I didn't know that you had a fake 47 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 1: tooth in your head. It's the front one too, It's 48 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: the front one. Wait right or left on the left. 49 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: I literally couldn't tell. Good job Russian dentist, job Russian dentist. 50 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: They definitely implied. I couldn't really understand what they were 51 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: saying because it was like a I think they were 52 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: a husband and wife pair of dentists. But they definitely 53 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: implied to me that I was lying to them about 54 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: bleaching my teeth. But anyway, that is my fun non 55 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: jim but weightlifting story because we are gonna be talking 56 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: a lot about weightlifting. Have you ever experienced sexism at 57 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: the gym? Bridge I not, I would say, not that 58 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: I can remember off hand, but probably I also, I don't. 59 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: I'm not a big gym person. I do enjoy being physical, 60 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: but it's usually some sort of activity. So the gym 61 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: that I go to usually is it's like one of 62 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: those specialty gyms that we're going to talk about. Um, 63 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: it's off road here in d C. It's amazing. And 64 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: their slogan is Bike Box Build And so it's just 65 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: a really small, boutique specialty gym where you only kind 66 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: of do one of three things, you know, cycling boxing 67 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: which is what I do UM, and also cycling sometimes 68 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: and then like circuit training UM. And I think I 69 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: found that because it's a smaller gym and everyone knows 70 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: each other and everyone goes out for coffee or drink 71 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: after the workout, which I'm sure kind of defeat the purpose. 72 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: But it's such a small, tight knit community of mostly 73 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: women and gender not conforming folks that it it Really 74 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: it's just the only environment I want to be in. 75 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: Why work out? That sounds lovely? Yeah, it's I this 76 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: sounds like an ad for them, and it's not because 77 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: they're you know, they're not paying me. But I would 78 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: happily make an ad for them because it's such a 79 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: great gym and it's the only consistent Jim based physical 80 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: activity I've been able to do that, And I think 81 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: part of it is because of that sort of camaraderie. 82 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: It's really low key. Everyone is really nice. Everybody is 83 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: there to have fun, you know, it's really it's really 84 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: kind of like people go there because it's a pleasant 85 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: and fun way to spend an hour and a half. 86 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: It's not. It's not it's it's explicitly not a gym experience. 87 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: I don't go to the gym much anymore, but when 88 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: I was in college, UM, i went all of the time. 89 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: And um, it was in part to avoid my roommate. Um, 90 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: because you could watch TV as long as you kept 91 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: running on the treadmill or whatever, the TV would work. 92 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: So I would go and watch Jurassic Park like on 93 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: the treadmill, just to avoid my roommate. As long as 94 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: there wasn't anyone else waiting. I wasn't that jerk. Um. 95 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: And it was a really nice gym too. They built 96 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: it for the Olympics in nineties six, and they had 97 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 1: a pool with like all the diving boards and a 98 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: slide um and it was actually a really good experience. 99 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: I did lift Um. I did lift weights at the time, 100 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,919 Speaker 1: and I didn't really get any any dudes coming up 101 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: to tell me that I was doing it incorrectly, which 102 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that does happen quite a bit. Um. 103 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: Before we get into some industry numbers, just a disclaimer. 104 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: The fitness industry has a world of other problems to 105 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: tackle on top of sexism, homophobia, transphobia. They are not 106 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: always welcome to non binary folks. There's able is um um. 107 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: They can be exclusionary because of cost and time commitment 108 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: or even travel. So there there are all of these 109 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: things on top of the conversation we're having today. I'm 110 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: glad you've mentioned that. I have to say, I think 111 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: I've mentioned this on the show before, but I I 112 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: love riding my bike. I love city bike riding, outdoor 113 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: bike riding. But what I wanted to continue to, you know, 114 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: be in shape during the winter. I was looking for 115 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: a cycling a cycling program, and before I found my 116 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: my gym, I am, we're going to soul cycle. And 117 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: you know, no shame to a soul cycle, but feeling 118 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: really out of place that I didn't have super fair 119 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: and see athletic wear. Like the people who did soul 120 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: cycle looked like fitness models. They all had this very 121 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: specific kind of athleisure outfit and yeah, it just it 122 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: didn't feel like I certainly couldn't afford, you know, forty 123 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: five shirts just to ride a bike. And I really 124 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: felt like I was like, I'll never go here again, 125 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: Like it just really I felt super out of place. Yeah, 126 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: it can really add up, and that like that forty 127 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: five shirt on top of what you're paying for membership 128 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: or for classes and Jim's Jim's can be places that 129 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: do not feel welcoming for one reason or another. And 130 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about all of that, but well, 131 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: let's start with some numbers just to show how to 132 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: give this conversation while we're why we're talking about it, 133 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: like meaning how much money it is. So the fitness 134 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: industry is a big business. Some estimates put the number 135 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: of Americans that have at least one gym are club 136 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: membership at forty five million people. A membership typically costs 137 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: somewhere between fifty dollars to fifty dollars a month. Around 138 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: the world, the health club industry accounted for over seventy 139 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: five billion dollars and almost on two million members, and 140 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: specialty gyms like soul Cycle or CrossFit grew by seventy 141 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: percent between and and probably surprising no one. Women are 142 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: more likely to drop out than men, and one of 143 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: the main reasons for that is this feeling of being judged. 144 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,199 Speaker 1: Teen surveyed from Cosmo found that women are gym timidated. 145 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,680 Speaker 1: That's their word, not ours, although it's a good one. 146 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: Twice as many women reported feelings of embarrassment and working 147 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: out as compared to men. Almost half of the female 148 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: respondents that they avoided the weightlifting area because of the 149 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: quote type of people there, which we can assume is men. 150 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: Oh for sure. Yeah. I mean not that they're not 151 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: women weightlifters talk about. But you know, when you think 152 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: of having to walk through the weightlifting area of a 153 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: gym to get to wherever you're going, I would imagine 154 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: that would be a heavily male, you know, male skewed area. 155 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: It is. And we have some numbers behind that that 156 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: we'll get into later. Millions fewer women regularly take part 157 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: in sports or exercise than men, and many studies have 158 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: found that this intimidation and sexism are some of the 159 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: reasons behind that. And this is a big deal because 160 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: it directly impacts your health and your well being. Absolutely. 161 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: Another aspect of this is black women report working out 162 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: less because of hair. A study in the Archives of 163 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,559 Speaker 1: Dermatology found that two out of five African American women 164 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: avoid exercising them because they're worried about their hair. Dr 165 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: Amy McMichael, the study senior researcher and a dermatologist at 166 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina, 167 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: based to study on her own experiences. She says, as 168 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: an African American woman, I have that problem and my 169 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: friends have that problem. So I wondered if my patients 170 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: have that problem them as women. It sucks that many 171 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: of us are letting sexism, letting things like concerns about 172 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: our hair, letting things like sham about our bodies impact 173 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: our health. It sucks that this is the world that 174 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: we have to live in. It does, and it's it's 175 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: so we can't even let go of how we look. 176 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:24,599 Speaker 1: When we're at the gym where you're not supposed to 177 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: look good like your gross you're sweating, and you're you're 178 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:33,199 Speaker 1: working on improving your health, are you know? Unfortunately oftentimes 179 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: your looks but your health. And even so this self 180 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: consciousness about how you look gets in the way of 181 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: that and prevents you from pursuing something that you might enjoy, 182 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,079 Speaker 1: that you might want to pursue and that is healthy 183 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: for you. That that's upsetting. And you made an interesting 184 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: point off Mike where It's this weird when you actually 185 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: think about the gym and you think about fact that 186 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: women aren't going because of you know, they're they're feeling 187 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 1: whatever kind of way about about our bodies. It's so 188 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: weird that you are working out in some ways, like 189 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: you just said, to improve the way your body looks 190 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: in some cases, but you're that same body or that 191 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: same weirdness and shame around the way that our bodies 192 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: present keeps you from the gym. It's this very weird 193 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: cycle that doesn't really make any sense when you when 194 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: you think about it, you know, yeah, I I was 195 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,439 Speaker 1: telling ridget Um, I now feel like I just want 196 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: to do a whole mini series about all of these 197 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: fascinating social like more raise and things that occur at 198 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: the gym. I have a friend who specifically will leave. 199 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,080 Speaker 1: She goes to a small gym, and she goes it 200 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,520 Speaker 1: really off hours so that no one else will be 201 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: there to see her work out, and she'll leave if 202 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: someone else comes in. She's too self conscious, she won't stay. 203 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: My gym doesn't have a changing room. But my favorite 204 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: displays at bigger gyms are those older women who don't 205 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: give a who are walking around the locker room naked. 206 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 1: I'm like, yes, please do you? I love it. I 207 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 1: hope that's me one day. UM. So I've wanted to 208 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: include a brief history of jams because I thought it 209 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,360 Speaker 1: was fascinating. UM and plus just to see if this 210 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: kind of dichotomy of men and women at gym's has 211 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: always been a thing that's been around. Um and before 212 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: we get into the sexism bit, we're gonna we're gonna 213 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:35,680 Speaker 1: look at that history and um CMC did an entire 214 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 1: episode on the history of American gyms. So this is 215 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: gonna be brief, and um, very very brief. But Jim's 216 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: first got their start in Greece, where naked men attended 217 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: public gym's as a way to prep for battle or 218 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: competitions or other male only activities. The word gymnasium, by 219 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: the way, if you're looking for some trivia to impress 220 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,079 Speaker 1: people with, stems from the Greek word gym nose, which 221 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: means naked. When the Greco Roman Empire collapsed, Jim's were 222 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: seen as unfashionable and did not make a comeback on 223 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:10,959 Speaker 1: a larger scale to the nineteen hundreds, and it was 224 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,679 Speaker 1: around this time that schools started including Jim's to support 225 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: growing up programs in pursuits. The first commercial gym opened 226 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: a little before this in eighteen forties Brussels, Belgium. The 227 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: y m c A got its start in eighteen first 228 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: in London, and this would become a big player in 229 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: terms of the fitness for men and boys, and the 230 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: term body building was coined at the Boston y m 231 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: c A in eight one to describe a set of 232 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: fitness courses. Now we're mostly talking about male only spaces, 233 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: but there were still some women in the mix. Katherine 234 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: esther Stowe's eighteen fifty six book Physiology and Calistics for 235 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: Schools and Families recommended physical education for both boys and girls. 236 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: She did think that some exercises were not met for 237 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,559 Speaker 1: quote the Female Constitute Usan, but her work was pretty 238 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: revolutionary for the time. When Jack Lolaine opened what many 239 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: believed to be the first American Health Cup in ninety six, 240 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: he was a big proponent of women being allowed to 241 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: lift weights, but for the most part, folks ignored him. 242 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: The first salons for women open during the thirties to 243 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: courtesy of rivals Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, and these 244 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: were some of the first places to sell women on 245 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: the idea that their physical appearance was in their control, 246 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: not just a matter of say God or nature. With 247 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: a regiment of light exercises like stretching, yoga and dancing, 248 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: and some cosmetics, you could achieve the look, figure, and 249 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: posture you desired. And this is one of the many 250 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: ways that wait and figure got all tangled up with 251 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: the beauty standard. As Rubinstein used to say, there are 252 00:14:53,760 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: no ugly women, only lazy ones, right, So this easily 253 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: transitioned into the fat of women during the forties and 254 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: fifties of reducing a k a losing weight. However, exercise 255 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: was not the way that women went about this, since 256 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: sweating and public was used as unladylike and physical exertion 257 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: was believed to be bad for the uterus. Quick f y, I, 258 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: it's not women. Women use diet pills or machines that 259 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: shook you and rolled you out like dough to get 260 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: rid of that fat. The most successful of these salons 261 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: with a chain called Slenderella, who we are our eternal 262 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: thanks for the quote bikini body. Oh, thank you so 263 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: much for that, Slenderella. Thank you also, f I I. 264 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: If you have a body and a bikini you have 265 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: a bikini body. That's just how words work. Trail raising. 266 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: American female bodybuilder Pudgy Stockton opened her salon of figure 267 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: Development in but even that was advertised as a place 268 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: to reduce, not a place to put on muscle or bodybuild. 269 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: It wasn't until the sixties and seventies that women begin 270 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: extra sizing and bigger numbers, not at gyms, though in 271 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: their homes where no one will be exposed to their 272 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: unladylike sweat and flab. Now the main reason behind this 273 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: were televised we day exercise programs targeting housewives. Jack Lelane 274 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: was one of the more popular ones, along with Debbie Drake. 275 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: Drake was the one who first popularized representations of what 276 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: a woman exercising should look like. The message of these 277 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: shows seemed to be watch your figures, ladies, or your 278 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: man might ditch you for a better looking woman one 279 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: who exercises the lanes. Nineteen sixty four exercise album was 280 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: called How to Keep Your Husband Happy, Look Slim, Keep Trim, 281 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: which is a great example of the divide that we 282 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: still see in the exercise world, women exercising for their 283 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: looks and men exercising for achievement in night. Physician Kenneth 284 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: Cooper also played a role in getting more women to 285 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,280 Speaker 1: exercise when he released his book Aerobics, a term he coined. 286 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: In it, he presented scientific evidence that exercise what's good 287 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: for you, It was good for your health. The first 288 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: bar studio got its start during the sixties two and 289 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: if you're unfamiliar. Bar is a type of workout program 290 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: that combines some ballets, some yoga, some stretching and strength exercises, 291 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: and a fun fact. It used to be used to 292 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: teach women to improve their sex lives. Oh, that is 293 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,479 Speaker 1: a fun fact. It's mostly seen as something more women 294 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: take part in than men. Jazzer Size, another physical activity 295 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: typically dominated by women, got going in nineteen sixty nine. 296 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: This company would become the second fastest growing franchise by 297 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 1: second only two Domino's Pizza. You got to eat your 298 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: pizza and then jazzer Size. That's what's the gym that 299 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: they do have pizza at the gym? Is it Planet Fitness? Oh? Man, 300 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: I didn't know such a thing existed. Yeah, it's true. 301 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: Pizza Monday. Planet Fitness has Pizzaoney, not that makes a 302 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: difference to this episode. I just thought you should know. 303 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: The seventies saw a lot of things that made go 304 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: into the gym a more popular activity for women. The 305 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: invention of the sports brawl and Title nine, chains of 306 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: quote figure salons promising women that they would be able 307 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: to get back into the dress size that they're proud of. 308 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: While COVID places did exist, a lot of them operated 309 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: on an alternate schedule of male to female days. Isn't 310 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: that wild? You'd have to know the Oh, today's the 311 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: woman day. I can't go to the gym. I don't know. 312 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: It's interesting interesting. What else is interesting is the number 313 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,120 Speaker 1: of women going to the gym went up even more 314 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:37,199 Speaker 1: in the eighties thanks to Jane Fonda's exercise videos. I 315 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: had heard of these until I researched this episode. I 316 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 1: had no idea what a huge cultural deal they were. 317 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: Oh my god, they were huge. They were huge. I 318 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: remember my mom was into Jane Fonda's workout videos. And 319 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: don't you remember that the lyrics to um baby got back? 320 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: You know what is it? Girlfriend drives a Honda? How 321 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: does yeah? Your girlfriend drops a Honda? Just brokeout tapes 322 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: with Fonda like it's a It was a cultural mainstay apparently. 323 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: It was worth noting though, that most gyms up to 324 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: this point were still single sex. Think about how recent 325 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 1: that is. That's the eighties. Um, more and more co 326 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: ed gym started opening as Jim chains took off and 327 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: women inspired by Jane Fonda flocked to them, and they're 328 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: wonderfully bright eighties gym fashion. The nineteen two cover of 329 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: Time magazine read coming on Strong, the new ideal of beauty, 330 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: and it had a picture of a woman like in 331 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:43,679 Speaker 1: gym clothes getting ready to go to the gym. Sorry, 332 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: that's just like I'm thinking about. That was like incredible. 333 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: Their offense were amazing. They were going to the gym, 334 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,640 Speaker 1: like just like you're going to a club or something, 335 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: or like eighties problem like those I could look at 336 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: eighties workout clothes for women for or it is so 337 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: interesting what I love about the eighties, Like anytime you're 338 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: watching a hundred years of fashion, whatever it is, like 339 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: wedding dresses, Jim, you can pick out the eighties. It 340 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:17,640 Speaker 1: is wildly different than anything else. Definitely now that new 341 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: ideal of beauty still focused on slimness, and it meant 342 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: many hours of hard work and more women hitting the 343 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: gym but as scientific evidence came out suggesting that an 344 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: ideal exercise routine should include some strength training, more women 345 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,120 Speaker 1: moved to traditionally male spaces. And you know what this means, 346 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: sexism gets exposed. And we'll talk more about that sexism 347 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:49,880 Speaker 1: after a quick break and we're back. Thank you sponsor. 348 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: This moves us into the modern day. And yes, sexism, 349 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: because the fitness industry is rife with it. I mean, 350 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: think about the phrase law a room talk that that 351 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: is a perfect example of how much sexism is in 352 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: the industry. And they're also these really um not great 353 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: ads for gems. One of them reads cheat on your girlfriend, 354 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: not your workout. Gross. An ad for a gym in 355 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: Germany made headlines when it was named the most sexist 356 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: ad in the country. It was an image of a 357 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: traditionally attractive woman with her eyes closed sucking on a 358 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: very phallic shaped ice pop captioned with the words hot 359 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: hot baby, which in German is he host baby. I 360 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: think so like it's an ice ice baby pun. Um, 361 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,120 Speaker 1: you wouldn't know it's for a gym looking at it. Yeah, 362 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: what does that have to do with working out? They 363 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: said it meant that you could get a nice refreshing 364 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: ice pop at the inter of your workout. Okay, I'm skeptical, 365 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: so I note. I hate advertisement where it blends sexy 366 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: stuff with things that aren't sexy. So it'll be like, 367 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: are you you know telling me that this gym is 368 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: a sex place? Like I get. I get very confused 369 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,320 Speaker 1: by advertisements where it's like, am I supposed to have 370 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: sex with a sandwich? Yeah? I know exactly what you mean. Yeah. 371 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: Think about something like Sports Illustrated, which historically and hasn't 372 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,160 Speaker 1: done a great job when it comes to depicting women 373 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,640 Speaker 1: and issues from nine female athletes only accounted for three 374 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: percent of stories covered, and when the US women's soccer 375 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: team won the World Cup in several television stations spent 376 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: more time covering when one of the players took off 377 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: her shirt and revealed her sports bra then they did 378 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: covering the actual win that was so controversial sports Oh 379 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: my god, a sports bra. It's not just ads, though. 380 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: A sixteen study out of University of Westminister found that 381 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: the more muscle a heterosexual man has, the more likely 382 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: he is to have sexist beliefs like in traditional gender roles. 383 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: Perhaps the more muscular dudes were also more likely to 384 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,199 Speaker 1: report hostility towards women. So it makes sense that a 385 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: lot of that attitude would permeate into the fitness culture 386 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,959 Speaker 1: and gems where a buff guy would spend a lot 387 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: of his time putting on that muscle. Always important to 388 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: note difference between correlation causation things like that, but um, 389 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: it was an interesting finding by this study. On top 390 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: of that, activities that put on muscle have historically been 391 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: dominated by men and really kind of largely still are. 392 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 1: Now this is starting to change a little bit, but 393 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: very slowly. Women have been sold fitness has a way 394 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,440 Speaker 1: to stay thin in tone, and men have been sold 395 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: as a way to bulk up. And on top of that, 396 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,679 Speaker 1: since women are doing more of the child caring and 397 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: chores around the household, they might not have the same 398 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:01,440 Speaker 1: ability as men to go to the gym. So let's 399 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,959 Speaker 1: let's dive into some of the types of sexism that 400 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: you might encounter the gym, some of the flavors, if 401 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: you will, Starting with Jim dress code policies. Now, we've 402 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: already talked a bit about dress codes and some of 403 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: the messaging behind them. Jim's often outlined rules for how 404 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: women dress forbidding sports brawls only, or tank tops that 405 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: are quote too revealing, yoga pants that are too tight. 406 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: And we just saw this with Serrina Williams, which I 407 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: have to say pissed me off so royally. Oh me too, 408 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: me too, And I mean you don't see these kind 409 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:38,119 Speaker 1: of guidelines for men. This is usually women don't don't 410 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: wear two revealing of tops, okay um. And this is 411 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 1: one of the biggest problems with women face in general. 412 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 1: And it's no different at the gym. That women's clothing 413 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,720 Speaker 1: choice is solely to attract me all attention, and that 414 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: the less clothings she wears, the more attention she wants. 415 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:59,399 Speaker 1: But it's a gym, it's hot, you're working out. Women 416 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: are told not to dress too provocatively, but we aren't 417 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: dressing provocatively. We're dressing for comfort for the working out 418 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: part that we're there for. And for women with bigger 419 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: boobs or butts, provocative is hard to avoid exactly. It's 420 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: just this assumption that men don't have to worry about 421 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: being provocative or attracting attention or blah blah blah whatever nonsense, 422 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: and that as women were there trying to you know, 423 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: stay in shape and and be healthy and take care 424 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,119 Speaker 1: of our bodies. Our number one concern should be what 425 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: are men thinking? How are they responding to how I'm dressed, 426 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: not what you're there for, what you're paying money for, 427 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,959 Speaker 1: which is to get in shape. And what's kind of 428 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: interesting about this is so many women have reported being 429 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: embarrassed working out in front of men as one of 430 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: their main deterrens for going to the gym, which we 431 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: talked about a little bit. In the front, you might 432 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: not have makeup on, you might be wearing your baggy 433 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: T shirt, or maybe you're wearing a shirt that rides 434 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: up and put your granny panties on full display for 435 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: all to see. Older women said that they didn't want 436 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: to be the source of laughter or repulsion. So it 437 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,920 Speaker 1: makes sense to me that some women do dress up 438 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: to go to the gym to combat this insecurity, maybe 439 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 1: you do put on those nice athletes your pants and 440 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: you put on makeup, um, just to give you some 441 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: kind of kind of like the armor we talked about before, 442 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: just something to combat that insecurity, even in a small way. Yeah, 443 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: I know that there's a lot of folks out there, 444 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: Like I see it online where people are like, oh, look, 445 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: at her and full makeup and hair going to the gym. 446 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: But if that's what makes me feel comfortable, you know, I, I. 447 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: You can't fault anyone for putting on the armor that 448 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: they need to feel confident in a world where women 449 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: are always scrutinized. Yeah, and we're not going to talk 450 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: about it in much in this episode. But I did 451 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: read that, Um, apparently gems are a place where you 452 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 1: meet people these days. You know, well, what, it's a 453 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: brave new world up there. Um, are you talking about dating? 454 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:09,119 Speaker 1: You phrased that. I was like, you meet people? What 455 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: could she be talking about? Um? And here here's a 456 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: new one that when it for me, at least when 457 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: it comes to dress code. In a middle school sent 458 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: home a letter about their gym cloes policy. One parent 459 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 1: who received the letter posted about it on Reddit. Quote. 460 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: I was floored when I went to the school and 461 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: was told that my seventh grade daughter would be responsible 462 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: for bringing her gym uniform home, laundering it, and bringing 463 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: it back, while my eighth grade son would quote just 464 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: give it to the school for them to watch, since 465 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: they didn't trust the boys to do the same. I'm 466 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: so angry either. Watch all the kids uniforms are none 467 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: of them. Don't tell my kid that if he doesn't 468 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: accomplish something, especially historically feminine activity like laundry, that someone 469 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: else will do it for him. My kids have been 470 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: responsible for their own laundry for five years. Boys don't 471 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: watch their takeoff points easy as that fail them if 472 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,880 Speaker 1: they don't do what they're supposed to do. I've never 473 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: heard of that before. That is wild to me, right, 474 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 1: and also it I mean, I know this isn't the point, 475 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: but one it completely you know, obscurity idea that there 476 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: are people who are not who do not identify as 477 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,639 Speaker 1: boys or girls too. What if you were a little 478 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: girl and you didn't live in a household that has 479 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: launching facilities like that would be a real problem. It's 480 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: it's almost sort of adding this really weird burden on 481 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: the girls that goes beyond just like gender, it's also classes, 482 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: like not everybody grows up in a house where they 483 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,960 Speaker 1: have a washer and dryer just like downstairs in their basement. Yeah. Absolutely, 484 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: Um my school didn't have JAM uniforms, so I'm very 485 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: I don't have much experience with this at all. I'm 486 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: just shocked by it. Yeah, my I went to a 487 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: really all all girls Catholic school. I think we had 488 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: uniforms for Jim, but we didn't really do a lot 489 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: during gym, Like sometimes on nice days we would just 490 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: like walk around the block and once we watched like 491 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: sometimes we watch movies, like I don't know much have 492 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 1: a movies and gym. I have a very distinct memory 493 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: of watching um this Ben Stiller Edward Norton comedy about 494 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: Catholicism Engine Class. So it wasn't even like about Jim's. 495 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: It was just and some and sometimes even do the 496 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: Richard Simmons workouts. Okay, so are are Jim? We were 497 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: sort of we were playing it fast and loose Jim Class. 498 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: I've got to agree, Bridge, I gotta agree with that 499 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: assessment before we move on. I wanted to include something 500 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: that gave me a good juggle. While researching this whole thing, 501 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: I was reading an article about the fad of ath 502 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: leisure and whether female sports where is sexist in itself, 503 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: and the author expressed shock that the study featured in 504 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: the article found that the biggest reason women reported for 505 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: wearing athletes your clothing outside of the gym was comfort 506 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: and not fashion. What we've been no no, that must 507 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: be incorrect. Oh my god, I have to say sometimes 508 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: this is such a like I shouldn't even admit this. 509 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: Every now and then I'll wear I do have a 510 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: little bit of ath leisure. I'll wear it around just 511 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: because I want people to like think like, oh, look 512 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: who's been working out? Like I want the smug feeling 513 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: that comes with It's like, really, I've just been sleeping 514 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: and watching TV all day. But if I go out 515 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: in this outfit, people will think, Oh, there's a girl 516 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,120 Speaker 1: that's got her life together. She just went to yoga. 517 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: You know now that you mentioned that. When I see 518 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: people on athletes, you're the first thing I think is 519 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: that they are going to the gym. Are athletes like 520 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: yoga or something, So you're onto something, bridget. Nothing makes 521 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: me think a woman in public has her shipped together, 522 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: like being an athleisure and carrying a yoga mat under 523 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: her arm and like ten a, I'm on a Saturday. Yeah, 524 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: that's true the article. Other than getting that well a 525 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: little wrong, I would say the article did make some 526 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,400 Speaker 1: good points, like the shift of women's sports where from 527 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: performance focused two looks focused and often a sexualized focus, 528 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: something that we don't see reflected in men's sportswear, and 529 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: that women's sports where is more expensive. Anyone who has 530 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: had to buy a good sports bra knows that absolutely. 531 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: We have some more, some more stuff to talk about here, 532 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,520 Speaker 1: but first we're gonna pause for a quick break or 533 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: word from our sponsor, and we're back, Thank you sponsor. Okay, 534 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:01,040 Speaker 1: So now let's talk about female only Jim's because they 535 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,560 Speaker 1: come up a lot when you're talking about sexism in 536 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: gyms and uh in the fitness industry in general. So 537 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: female only gyms and gym classes are they sexist? Well? 538 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: The question was the source of a lawsuit in London. 539 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: The man behind the lawsuit, Peter Lloyd, said, quote they 540 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 1: still charged men the same full price membership as women, 541 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,280 Speaker 1: but refused to offer the equivalent option of male only sessions. 542 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: The gym and question had four and twenty two hours 543 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: a year set aside for female only classes. The response 544 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: to this was swift. Jezebel essentially told him to give 545 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: women the four hundred twenty two hours and stop whining. 546 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: Wonkett called him a limy nutsack. His comeback did not 547 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,719 Speaker 1: paint him in the best light. To be sure, he said, quote, 548 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: a group of agenda driven feminist who say a minority 549 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: of women feel bad about their bodies were the ones 550 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,560 Speaker 1: attacking him. I liked the I like the quote a 551 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: gen a fueled feminists. I'm gonna put that on a 552 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: T shirt. We should and we have the ability. Now, Oh, 553 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,360 Speaker 1: that's right, we should fud the shirts. That's right. That's right. Also, listeners, 554 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 1: if you have any design ideas, send them our away 555 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:16,240 Speaker 1: weekend make shirts. We can make shirts by no means. 556 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: Is this the only lawsuit against jims that offer female 557 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: only classes or female only Jim's Health Works of female 558 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 1: only JIM in Boston was sued in six by James J. Foster, 559 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: you know who came out on his side. The National 560 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: Organization of Women, The president of Massachusetts Now commented at 561 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: the time, if you want equal rights, then you want 562 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: them for everybody, not just when it benefits you. And 563 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: Foster won his lawsuit. The story does not end there. 564 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: Members of Health Works protested so much that in a 565 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: bill was signed making single sex gyms legal in the state, 566 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: and other states have followed suit, but more than one 567 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:00,560 Speaker 1: has got in the opposite direction. One thing of note 568 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: um in some places like Fitness First and quitar men 569 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: and women are forbidden from working out in the same 570 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: space for sort of the opposite but same reason. It's 571 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: something that we'll have to come back to and talk 572 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: about because it's a different perspective on the issue, and 573 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: we'd love to do a deeper dive. Another thing that 574 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: we should mention are queer sports gapes, something like Gay Games, 575 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:26,680 Speaker 1: which is a space for LGBTQ folks and allies. A 576 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:28,919 Speaker 1: study found that not only were members of the Gay 577 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 1: Games more likely to report a sense of community and 578 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,320 Speaker 1: higher self esteem, but they were much more likely to 579 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: become politically active when it came to LGBTQ causes, which 580 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: is not surprising to me at all. Yeah, a good 581 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: gym like you were talking about with yours is a 582 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:47,960 Speaker 1: is a great place to find community and to just 583 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,120 Speaker 1: have these conversations with people that perhaps you wouldn't have 584 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: encountered in your everyday life. Now, if you're wondering why 585 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: there aren't that many male only gems or classes, because 586 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,800 Speaker 1: there are some, very few, but some, and that's because 587 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: there's not really a demand for them, I wonder why. 588 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,720 Speaker 1: I bet could that be? I bet you could hazard 589 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 1: a successful guest on the flip side. If you're wondering 590 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: why there is a demand for female only gyms in classes, 591 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: you also probably know why that is. You can find 592 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,399 Speaker 1: so many accounts of women facing incessant harassment from men 593 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: at the gym, going so far as to pull out 594 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: the headphones of women working out to talk to them. 595 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:33,960 Speaker 1: Never do that, aside from me, women getting constantly asked 596 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: out at the gym when they're just there to work out, 597 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:39,399 Speaker 1: Women being body shamed or cat called, women having men 598 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: man's plain working out to them. So many women have 599 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: shared their experiences with man's playing at the gym, whether 600 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: it's to just the weight on the machine to something 601 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 1: lower without her permission to keep said woman from hurting 602 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,720 Speaker 1: herself or her lady parts. Um adjusting a woman's form 603 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,759 Speaker 1: without asking, or even telling women that they're wearing their 604 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: sports brought in correctly. Um. Or that nice ass is 605 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: a compliment. Don't you understand how compliments work? That kind 606 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,879 Speaker 1: of thing gross. And what's really awful is that these 607 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: behaviors aren't always just limited to JIM goers. You'll have 608 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,960 Speaker 1: constructors say things like, ladies, it's okay if you need 609 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,239 Speaker 1: to tap out, but fellas if you tap out you 610 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: will be ruthlessly mocked, and basically it's saying, oh, women, 611 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: you're so delicate, you can't do it, but men, men up, 612 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: you need to do it otherwise will be made fun 613 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,799 Speaker 1: of and you won't be really a man, right. And 614 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,360 Speaker 1: if there's a single female in the class, perhaps like 615 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 1: just one female and all the rest of the participants 616 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,960 Speaker 1: in class or male, she'll often be singled out and 617 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: used to motivate the other male participants, as if the 618 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:47,200 Speaker 1: worst thing would be for a woman to outperform you. 619 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,240 Speaker 1: And yeah, that that might seem small and relatively harmless, 620 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: but it's still reinforces these sexist perceptions, and it undercuts 621 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: the what the woman is accomplishing and what she can acomplish. 622 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 1: And you're you're paying for the pleasure if you're at 623 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: if you're at a gym, odds are you're paying to 624 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 1: be there? You're you're paying for someone to basically insult 625 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,960 Speaker 1: you had a room full of strangers. It's so awful, 626 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:19,279 Speaker 1: it is. And this behavior isn't limited to men, or 627 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:23,760 Speaker 1: at least I would say the body sharing part particularly isn't. 628 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:27,879 Speaker 1: And probably the sexist language of dudes, um, don't let 629 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: this lady out do you. I'm sure some female instructors 630 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,360 Speaker 1: have probably used that as well. Um also a decent 631 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 1: amount of women only boutique gems. We're pushing really hard 632 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,799 Speaker 1: for weight loss, whether the gym goer wanted it or not. 633 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,799 Speaker 1: So say you you come in and you're a new 634 00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:46,840 Speaker 1: you're thinking about signing up for a gym for a while, 635 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: and still sometimes they want to like the first thing 636 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:52,799 Speaker 1: they want to know is how much weight do you 637 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,839 Speaker 1: want to lose? Which is not great either that that 638 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:59,320 Speaker 1: could be such a deterrent um. And this is changing, 639 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:03,239 Speaker 1: but for a while it was pretty standard. Almost yeah, 640 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,200 Speaker 1: and a lot of women when interviewed about why they 641 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 1: go to an all female gym, they pretty much said 642 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:08,919 Speaker 1: that they would like to go to a co ed gym, 643 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: but that they're so male dominated and essentially they already 644 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 1: feel like male only spaces. So in really interesting study 645 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:20,000 Speaker 1: explored how these spaces are kind of paradoxes. There's spaces 646 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: that are presumably about empowering women, but they still push 647 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,400 Speaker 1: for this head of a normative female beauty standard, and 648 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,200 Speaker 1: their spaces where women flocked to to escape the mail 649 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 1: gaze or being put on display. But it's almost as 650 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,560 Speaker 1: women aren't comfortable with their bodies, they aren't satisfied with 651 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,360 Speaker 1: their bodies, and they're uncomfortable trying to work toward the 652 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,439 Speaker 1: body they think men will want in front of men. 653 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:41,439 Speaker 1: And so it's kind of this paradox that we talked 654 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:45,560 Speaker 1: about earlier where gyms are this weird space where you 655 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,799 Speaker 1: go there, you're sort of sold that it's an empowering 656 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: thing for a woman only jim to exist. You go 657 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,880 Speaker 1: there to avoid the male gaze, but then once you 658 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: get there, there's this real pressure to work out so 659 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,480 Speaker 1: that you will be a active to men. And it 660 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 1: really is kind of another kind of cool girl way. 661 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: It's like the cool girl workout a kind of way. Yeah, 662 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,680 Speaker 1: where trying isn't cool. You don't want to show men 663 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,480 Speaker 1: that you're trying to get this body that you think 664 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 1: that they want. It's so you go to a female 665 00:39:18,880 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 1: only jam to escape the male gaze, but it's still there. 666 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: Like there's so many accounts of women saying like you 667 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,920 Speaker 1: could you could almost feel it even though they were 668 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,480 Speaker 1: no men um. A lot of co ed gems are 669 00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 1: laid out in a way that requires women to walk 670 00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:39,360 Speaker 1: through the weightlifting section where often mostly men are working 671 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:42,200 Speaker 1: out and this walk can be awkward and lead to 672 00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:46,320 Speaker 1: some unwanted leering and comments. And that was the case 673 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,000 Speaker 1: for Vanessa Golumbuski, as she described in her article Why 674 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: I Quit the Gym for Refinery twenty nine, she quit 675 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: her local Planet Fitness branch after months of being cat 676 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:00,640 Speaker 1: called and harrassed and having her complaints ignored. When she 677 00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 1: posted about it on social media, the Planet Fitness social 678 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 1: media account suggested to her that she should try quote 679 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 1: going to the gym a little earlier or later to 680 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,640 Speaker 1: avoid the rush of male members. Change your schedule. We 681 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,319 Speaker 1: don't need to fix the problem you you you'd work 682 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:18,640 Speaker 1: on that on your end. What a crappy response. That's 683 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:22,400 Speaker 1: totally just shifting the onus onto the person who was 684 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,839 Speaker 1: there to work out, was paying for this this opportunity, Like, oh, 685 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:28,799 Speaker 1: our gym suck. Yeah, maybe you should try changing your 686 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:33,080 Speaker 1: whole schedule to fix it for us, right. Musician Ellie 687 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,719 Speaker 1: Golding has also spoken up about this. She's apparently been 688 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: leered at when she goes to the gym, and I 689 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 1: guess I've I've thought a lot about all of this 690 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 1: um recently because it has been really fascinating research and 691 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:51,040 Speaker 1: I suppose to me female only gems is it's kind 692 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:54,319 Speaker 1: of like female only train cars in India where I 693 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: get it and I'm not really opposed, but it does 694 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: feel like you're dealing with the symptom and not the problem. 695 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: And it's once again putting the responsibility on women for 696 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,800 Speaker 1: men's behaviors. So I would rather we didn't need them, 697 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,120 Speaker 1: but that's not the reality. And to be clear, I've 698 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,560 Speaker 1: gone to a female only gem and loved it. Like 699 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:16,880 Speaker 1: I am more comfortable in general when it's or at 700 00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:21,239 Speaker 1: least nowadays, when it's mostly women, but that when I 701 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 1: was in college it was mostly men and it didn't 702 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,000 Speaker 1: bother me at all. But I had a female workout 703 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 1: partner and also, like I said, it was a pretty 704 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:33,160 Speaker 1: good experience. So it's one of those things where I 705 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:37,680 Speaker 1: get it, but I'm a little sad that it is 706 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:42,400 Speaker 1: a thing that has to exist for people to feel comfortable. Yeah, 707 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:44,200 Speaker 1: And I just wish that we lived in a world 708 00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:47,400 Speaker 1: where we didn't have to have female only gim's, female 709 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:49,160 Speaker 1: only to train cars. I think I think there is 710 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: something really powerful about women's only spaces and collectives, and 711 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,560 Speaker 1: I think that, you know, I have found a lot 712 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,560 Speaker 1: of power in those spaces. But I want them to 713 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:04,840 Speaker 1: exist because we want them, not because we need them. 714 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:10,719 Speaker 1: Right and if we're if we look at like weightlifting, 715 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:14,080 Speaker 1: because that is something that has been typically male dominated 716 00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: son Jana or maybe it's son Yana, so I pronounced 717 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:20,719 Speaker 1: it incorrectly. Um Sathia and wrote about this while working 718 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: out as a gym and why it sucks as a woman, 719 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,279 Speaker 1: especially when it comes to weightlifting. She pointed out that 720 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:30,200 Speaker 1: many gems are segregated to the bulky men lifting weights 721 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,720 Speaker 1: and to the women doing cardio, much like a middle 722 00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:35,960 Speaker 1: school dance men on one side, women on the other. 723 00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,920 Speaker 1: And it's true that several surveys have found women avoid 724 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,959 Speaker 1: lifting weights out of fear of getting to buff, which 725 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:48,600 Speaker 1: is perceived as unattractive or even unnatural in our society. 726 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:52,680 Speaker 1: Celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson even suggested that women avoid weights 727 00:42:52,719 --> 00:42:58,760 Speaker 1: over three pounds. In Lorie Schultz wrote, the deliberately muscular 728 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:02,200 Speaker 1: female body is dame risks and disturbs dominant notions of sex, 729 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:05,920 Speaker 1: gender and sexuality, and any discressive field that includes her 730 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:09,320 Speaker 1: risks opening up a side of contest and conflict, anxiety, 731 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,600 Speaker 1: and ambiguity. So we have a lot of work to 732 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 1: do when it comes to dismantling all this gendered stuff 733 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,680 Speaker 1: that we put in around body building and weightlifting and 734 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,239 Speaker 1: f y I science says that you won't accidentally bulk up, 735 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:24,960 Speaker 1: so don't worry about that. No, don't worry about that, okay. 736 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:30,600 Speaker 1: So in conclusion, here's the thing. Working out is oddly vulnerable, 737 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,680 Speaker 1: and sexism at the gym touches on so much more 738 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:39,200 Speaker 1: than it seems on the surface, but there are positive things. 739 00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:42,120 Speaker 1: Trends show that jims are moving away from the men 740 00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:46,560 Speaker 1: lift weight, women do crunches approach. You can search hashtag 741 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:49,239 Speaker 1: fits to gram to see all kinds of women looking 742 00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:52,200 Speaker 1: to put on some muscle. The hashtag gaining weight is 743 00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:57,200 Speaker 1: Cool had eighty thousand posts in October of lifting weights 744 00:43:57,239 --> 00:44:01,400 Speaker 1: and getting us six back. For sure is not attainable 745 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 1: for everyone, but it is positive that more women feel 746 00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:06,839 Speaker 1: comfortable doing it if it's something that they want to do. 747 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,120 Speaker 1: Experts do warrn against treating one ideal for another, so 748 00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:12,560 Speaker 1: just keep that in mind when you're scrolling through these images. 749 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:16,880 Speaker 1: Do not become obsessed with that ideal that is not 750 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,680 Speaker 1: achievable for everybody, and something that I thought was really 751 00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:23,760 Speaker 1: interesting is that Saphian, the writer that we highlighted earlier, 752 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,920 Speaker 1: she suggested hiring more female staff at Jim's with the 753 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 1: ultimate goal about split as a way to combat this 754 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: gym sexies them and to make the spaces more comfortable 755 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,680 Speaker 1: for women. I would also add hire more gender nonconforming 756 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:38,600 Speaker 1: folks just so everyone feels like they are represented and 757 00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:42,879 Speaker 1: welcome in these spaces. Yes, um, and if you are 758 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:44,960 Speaker 1: able and have the body and the time and the 759 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:49,000 Speaker 1: money to work out and the desire, because let's be real, um, 760 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 1: it sucks that so many women are avoiding a healthy 761 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,840 Speaker 1: activity because they don't want to be her ass or 762 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,399 Speaker 1: because they feel too insecure, and this is actually impacting health. 763 00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: Good physical health ripples out to all source of things 764 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:05,320 Speaker 1: like um getting better sleep, combating depression, increasing bone density, 765 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:09,560 Speaker 1: better balance, decreased stress, lower risk of chronic diseases. Most 766 00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:11,560 Speaker 1: of us aren't going to gyms for the abs, but 767 00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,320 Speaker 1: they can be a good place to get these benefits, 768 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:18,879 Speaker 1: the things that can improve your everyday life. And think 769 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:21,400 Speaker 1: of the women. All of the women who could have 770 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:24,640 Speaker 1: been great boxers are female weightlifters or bodybuilders that were 771 00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,880 Speaker 1: turned off of the gym from a bad experience or 772 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:30,520 Speaker 1: who avoided the gym or weightlifting in particular because of 773 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:32,840 Speaker 1: all of this stuff we've been talking about. And I 774 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:36,200 Speaker 1: hadn't really appreciated how underrepresented women have been when it 775 00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:39,440 Speaker 1: comes to this until recently. How it's just assumed that 776 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,520 Speaker 1: men will be more athletic than women. Yeah, asked someone 777 00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:45,879 Speaker 1: who boxes in her spare time. You know, I came 778 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 1: to boxing and because my dad box, and my brother box, 779 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:50,359 Speaker 1: and my cream power box and boxing is a big 780 00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,359 Speaker 1: part of my family. And you know, being born a 781 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:56,480 Speaker 1: woman did not mean that I got to escape the 782 00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:59,799 Speaker 1: family pastime of boxing. But for every woman who came 783 00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,080 Speaker 1: to it that way, there are probably women who are 784 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,319 Speaker 1: just been turned off of the sport and just you know, 785 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,160 Speaker 1: stopped doing it because of this. And you know, we 786 00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,480 Speaker 1: could be missing out on a really great female athlete 787 00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:16,960 Speaker 1: because of sexist nonsense. And think about um kids when 788 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:19,879 Speaker 1: all these p classes and gym classes we've been talking about, 789 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:23,880 Speaker 1: gym classes, apart from watching movies, they can be a 790 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,200 Speaker 1: great learning opportunity for kids. If the gym teachers call 791 00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:31,120 Speaker 1: out any quote locker room talk, which admittedly only works 792 00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:35,319 Speaker 1: with the gym teacher. Also isn't sexist harass or what 793 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,880 Speaker 1: have you. Studies show that girls are socialized, starting in 794 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:42,200 Speaker 1: physical education classes, to think that they are less athletically 795 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:45,960 Speaker 1: capable than boys and that less is expected of them 796 00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:49,440 Speaker 1: in that arena. It makes young girls feel and capable 797 00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:52,600 Speaker 1: and insecure with their bodies, and we need to start 798 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:55,719 Speaker 1: changing that. And I personally had a horrible experience in 799 00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:58,719 Speaker 1: gym in middle school. There's this group of dudes that 800 00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,440 Speaker 1: named all of the girls after states. So the bigger 801 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:03,880 Speaker 1: the boobs you had, the more mountainous state name you 802 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:05,879 Speaker 1: would get and they'd shout it as you ran past, 803 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,880 Speaker 1: which was really awful. So would be like Colorado was 804 00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:13,719 Speaker 1: like the big one you wanted was the so I have, 805 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:19,399 Speaker 1: I'm completely flatchested, and I would have been Kansas. That's 806 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:24,880 Speaker 1: like arrested development. There's a surfboard in the shot, yes exactly, 807 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:27,399 Speaker 1: and it was. It made me very insecured. It made 808 00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:30,239 Speaker 1: me not want to participate, and it's also got me 809 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:33,680 Speaker 1: thinking about tom Boys, which is usually a sporty girl 810 00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:37,400 Speaker 1: who likes comfortable clothes. How the masculine world of sports 811 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,200 Speaker 1: fandom is legitimized, and sports that are seen as male 812 00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:43,759 Speaker 1: and those that are seen as female, like gymnastics, just 813 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,760 Speaker 1: that whole thing, like how female sporting events are taken 814 00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:50,800 Speaker 1: less seriously received, less funding and subpart equipment. There's so 815 00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:55,640 Speaker 1: much going on here, so much, and it's all just 816 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:59,320 Speaker 1: so gendered, and it reinforces this idea of the gender 817 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:03,360 Speaker 1: buying area. Just it's just so it's just exhausting and tiring, 818 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,880 Speaker 1: there's no other word for it. People should be encouraged 819 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:11,399 Speaker 1: to pursue whatever athletic you know, past time they want 820 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:15,799 Speaker 1: to and just having it work along this this gent 821 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,359 Speaker 1: entire gender notion. It's just we just have to get 822 00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:25,400 Speaker 1: past it. Yeah, we really do. UM. We need to 823 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:28,000 Speaker 1: save our energy for working out in the gym and 824 00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:32,960 Speaker 1: last for all of this gender nonsense. UM, if you're 825 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:37,279 Speaker 1: nervous about going to the jam or uh yeah yeah, 826 00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:41,200 Speaker 1: working out in general, we have some suggestions, some quick suggestions. UM, 827 00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:43,120 Speaker 1: a workout plan is always good, so that like when 828 00:48:43,160 --> 00:48:44,640 Speaker 1: you come in, you know you want to hit these 829 00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:47,120 Speaker 1: certain machines or you want to do this for however 830 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:50,879 Speaker 1: much amount of time. UM, if you if you want 831 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:53,440 Speaker 1: to get into lifting weights, but you're you're worried about 832 00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:55,719 Speaker 1: going up to the machine and appearing like you don't 833 00:48:55,760 --> 00:48:57,680 Speaker 1: know what you're gonna do or how to work it. 834 00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:00,239 Speaker 1: You can always talk to somebody who works there, or 835 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:02,879 Speaker 1: you can watch videos online or read tutorials online about 836 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:05,600 Speaker 1: the machines you want to use before you go. UM 837 00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:11,080 Speaker 1: and for Gim's offering an orientation option for beginners to 838 00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:14,080 Speaker 1: reduce this invisible barrier at the gym. That would be 839 00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:17,040 Speaker 1: one thing. Diversifying gym space in terms of age and 840 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:19,640 Speaker 1: body type, just so people see all sorts of different 841 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:21,960 Speaker 1: people there and make it make all of us feel 842 00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:25,680 Speaker 1: more comfortable. I think I can say when I first 843 00:49:25,719 --> 00:49:28,279 Speaker 1: started lifting weights, I had a female partner and that 844 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,480 Speaker 1: really helped me get over the intimidation factor, especially because 845 00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:34,319 Speaker 1: she already knew what she was doing and she taught me. 846 00:49:35,080 --> 00:49:37,120 Speaker 1: So if that's an option for you, If a workout 847 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:40,640 Speaker 1: buddy is an option for you, I highly recommend that 848 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:43,440 Speaker 1: UM And it's also good for accountability if that's something 849 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:46,160 Speaker 1: you're worried about and you really do want to make 850 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:48,440 Speaker 1: sure that you keep up to some kind of schedule. 851 00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:52,560 Speaker 1: We had a Google calendar we shared UM. But if 852 00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:55,040 Speaker 1: it is something that you want to do, we really 853 00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,000 Speaker 1: want you to be able to do it and feel 854 00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:01,759 Speaker 1: comfortable doing it. So yeah, and we shouldn't let sexist 855 00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:05,719 Speaker 1: nonsense stop us from a being healthy and getting in 856 00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:11,120 Speaker 1: shape or be just pursuing the athletic activities that we 857 00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:13,960 Speaker 1: want that we're drawn to, whether it's boxing, weightlifting, whatever, 858 00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:18,680 Speaker 1: you know, we shouldn't let this really dumb societal notion 859 00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:20,840 Speaker 1: and gendered bs keep us from doing the things that 860 00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:23,960 Speaker 1: we want to do in life. No, we shouldn't. And 861 00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:28,360 Speaker 1: we've heard from several listeners who who are weightlifters or 862 00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:32,719 Speaker 1: are casually or even professionally um who haven't let this 863 00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:35,520 Speaker 1: gender bs get in their way and the sexism get 864 00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:37,799 Speaker 1: in their way. And we would love to hear from 865 00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,040 Speaker 1: more of you. What has your experience been with the 866 00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:45,760 Speaker 1: GEM and physical education or sports anything like that. Um 867 00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:48,479 Speaker 1: We because we had a lot to say about the GEM, 868 00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:52,000 Speaker 1: We're gonna eskew listener mail, but it will be back 869 00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:54,680 Speaker 1: in the next episode, and if you want to email us, 870 00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:57,800 Speaker 1: you can. Our email is a mom Stuff at houstaf 871 00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:01,279 Speaker 1: works dot com and reveal double on social media. We're 872 00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:03,879 Speaker 1: on Instagram at stuff I'm Ever told You, and we're 873 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,920 Speaker 1: on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast, and you can check 874 00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:09,520 Speaker 1: out our new line of T shirts that you mentioned 875 00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:12,960 Speaker 1: in this episode at t public dot com, slash stores, 876 00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:15,960 Speaker 1: slash stuff Mom never told you. Yeah, we'd love to 877 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:18,759 Speaker 1: have some design ideas from you guys. We could make 878 00:51:18,800 --> 00:51:22,800 Speaker 1: it happen. Thanks as always to Andrew Howard, our producer, 879 00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:24,600 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening.