Many of us have seen the extensive amount of TikTok videos of women feeling uncomfortable at their gym because of the stares they receive from men. It is evident from these videos that there is a problem.
Working out is great for our mental health and wellbeing, therefore it is disappointing to see women being discouraged from exercising because of this issue.
As a society, we need to find an answer to this problem so that women can complete their workouts in peace without having to feel anxious about who is looking in their direction. Although the most logical solution would be to discourage people from staring in the first place, one idea which has risen to prominence is the women-only gym.
These gyms take men out of the equation completely.
Not only do these gyms aim to take away the unwanted feeling of intimidation, but the women-only focus also allows for tailored equipment and fitness programmes that better suit the physiology of the female body.
This means that women-only gyms can also provide more effective workouts for their clients and so these gyms are beneficial for women in more ways than it first appears.
Although this idea seems like a fairly modern one, it originated in the 1930s and became increasingly popular in the 1970s. However, as the definition of fitness has changed, so has the look of these spaces, with a gradual rise in women weightlifting.
Out of 19 women asked in a poll, 69% stated that they would prefer to work out in the female-only gym than in a co-ed one.
Moreover, a tweet from September 2020 saying “Ladies hear me out. Imagine if we had a GIRLS ONLY gym!!! Ugh a dream,” received 319,000 likes and 42,000 retweets.
The demand for a safe and comfortable space for women to work out, away from men is definitely there.
However, there are some negatives to these gyms.
Women can be just as judgemental as men. Therefore taking away male attention doesn’t put a complete end to feeling intimidated while exercising.
There have also been some arguments that these gyms are discriminatory. In the 21st century, we have become a lot more accepting of people’s gender identities than those living in the 1970s and so there is an argument that these gyms exclude people who would also like to be free from judgement when going through their fitness journey.
It appears that the main problem that these female-only gyms have set out to solve is the feeling of being intimidated when trying to exercise. But do they actually solve the problem?
There are still many other people who enter gyms, for example, complete beginners, regardless of gender, who would like to complete their training programme without anxiety.
This women-only focus seems to only avoid the issue of intimidation at the gym rather than solve it.