Women avoid mixed sex gyms due to male harassment

I go to a very small gym which only does classes/small group training. Everyone has a station and does the same routine with one instructor. The majority of the people at the classes I attend (varies across the week so I've a reasonable idea of the client mix) are women. The owner is 6ft3 guy. I'm 5ft2. He asked me recently if I'd change my 4 star Google rating to a 5 star. I told him I will when the gym is better set up for women - the lighter equipment (5kg weight plates, 10-14kg kettle bells) are all on higher shelves/racks than the heavier ones. The benches are too high for me to be able to plant my feet on the floor for bench presses/support my chest comfortably for flies. The cables are too high to easily change handles without stepping on the bench. He looked at me like I was mad. Fortunately the instructors are great and grab me what I need when I ask and over all the classes are worth it, but it's damn infuriating.

I’ve always used mixed gyms of lots of different sizes and never been harassed. I’ve been using mixed gyms since my early 20’s. Including jaccuzis, saunas.

obviously my anecdotal evidence isn’t everything but I’d suggest that it shows that it doesn’t apply across the board.

The comments on the bbc story on the local bbc Facebook feed are … depressing. Full of comments on the appearance of the woman in the story, how women should go to the gym in baggy clothes if the don’t want any comments, lots from women who like having men talk to them.

Sometimes I really don’t like my fellow humans.

If I was using a machine and a guy came over and took over (which i doubt happens) I would I hope i would say something.
And about being bothered conversationally, well listen to something on headphones. I was being bothered (by a woman) and this solved it.

With people hogging machines, I used to find it a bind. But now my routine is 4 repetitions of 10. With 1.5 minutes rest between. So what I used to think was hogging wasn't the case.

Believe it or not, not all woman find it easy to be assertive. And in these situations, come on, you know what the response will be, "why can't we both use it - you're taking a break anyway" etc etc etc.

Is this genuine confusion or just faux "oh, but why do women put up with this shit?"

up to her, that is

well yes, but it's up to tell him to stop using her machine, surely?

Personally, I think it's often the more subtle stuff that's tricky at many gyms today. Overall, our gym is pretty good and I don't see a lot of this sort of thing. BUT the little more subtle things are there I think and annoying. I don't use the actual gym floor but the treadmills look out onto the floor and occasionally I'll see the universal Man-Taking-Up-Space (and taking longer and not being considerate). Or I've seen situations where if a woman pauses for a while a man then strikes up chit chat or starts to use her machine. Nothing truly awful but I think very irritating and MALE.

Well, as they say, it's my lived experience. And no, I haven't.

You've never seen any evidence of sexual harassment, ever?

You are a lucky special sausage aren't you?

It is not a ghetto. It is a pleasure - where you can exercise, have treatments, a massage and socialise just with other women.

Used to go to a female only gym but they started offering teeth whitening, fillers, dermabrasion etc and I decided that they were targeting already vulnerable women who were self conscious about their body and this was added pressure which I felt was sending the wrong message so I left.

Lord yes. I used to go to a gym and they had classes. A type of man used to attend and spend the time gazing at the mirror and posing. He threatened to take a woman ‘outside’ and ‘batter’ her. I’m sure it wasn’t an invite to a fish supper.

She had asked him (politely) to please move the mats and yoga balls to the side as the class was about to start (he had arrived early to ‘use’ these - ie pose and gaze at himself).

never saw him in the actual gym (or thankfully the changing rooms/showers). Just posing - he usually left after the classes started.

I go to a cheap as chips gym full of ‘roid heads’ who are actually the nicest and most helpful people, never had an issue with any harassment and I’d be pretty confident if there were any it would be dealt with and that member barred

‘The special men’ - that they are. 😂

A women-only space would be idyllic, not a ghetto

No the problem is the management of your gym. I strongly believe in single sex spaces. But gyms? No. I refuse to be driven into a women-only ghetto.

At my old gym (just outside London) I was doing a dance class with lots of bending and bouncing etc when a man started filming us all through the window. I complained to the teacher and she said yes he’s a known problem but he’s a member of the gym so the manager won’t do anything.

And so many other times when I was using the weights equipment random men would come over and mansplain the equipment to me / work right next to me with lots of grunting despite the whooe room being empty.

I don’t go to the gym anymore. I’d jog in the local wood but it isn’t safe because you know - men.

So mostly I just go for walks. I’m a lot less fit than I used to be.

I attend a cheap as chips gym. I'm confident that sexual harassment would be dealt with if you made a complaint. And I've never seen any evidence of it happening.

You just advertise yourself as a female only facility. I used to go to a women only gym. I cannot imagine going to a mixed sex one.

My gym sent emails saying that they were starting women only sessions. I wrote to ask if they were really
‘Women only’ or if it was an ID thing.

the query went back and forth as they weasel worded their reply (ie avoided stating outright if it was or wasn’t). I assume the worst.

Yes and not wiping down the equipment after use, and hogging various bits of the gym while not actually working out.

It's not just their harassment that puts women off gyms. It's the grunting, sweating, posing and general assholery that makes me avoid mixed gyms.

Sounds idyllic for many reasons. What happens when someone identifying as a woman rocks up? I wonder how many female-only gyms have policies on this scenario?

Apparently a trans woman has been taken on as manager of a women’s team at a lower league football club. Why hasn’t that job gone to a woman? I thought the FA was promoting women in football.