To find the gym attire of some women completely inappropriate?

[Apolo90]

I went to the gym with a work colleague after work; it’s the first time I’ve been to that particular one.

I was taken aback by the number of women wearing either the tightest leggings imaginable, barely there sports bra’s and/or shorts which wouldn’t look out of place on the beach they were that sparse.

Is this really appropriate? I’m far from a prude but I like to exercise without being forced to stare at someone’s bottom squeezed into impossibly tight clothing.

Maybe I’m just getting old.

Not at all bothered by what other people wear I might like it or not like it but feeling it’s inappropriate that wouldn’t be something I’d consider. Maybe focus on yourself a bit more.

Do you have a 17 year old? Generally speaking they don’t take kindly to policing what they wear. My dd would wear this to the gym probably. She hasn’t just yet as she’s only just joined and it is winter so is wearing gym leggings and a jacket over her sports bra. As for the belly button piercing, once you reach 16, you don’t need parental consent.

I thought that was what part of what going to the gym was about and no more inappropriate than swimwear at a pool.

Yabu really op, women should wear whatever they want

People can wear what they want but I don’t get the permanent wedgie look. It surely must be uncomfortable but I don’t wear it so not my issue.

Of course the women and men should wear what they want to. If someone wants to spend their time looking around the room rather than working out that's their choice and their issue not those dressed to workout.

My gym doesn't tolerate people staring at others. People who do are warned and then removed by staff.

I dont like the arse enhancing leggings. But i just say to myself, “girls, enjoy it whike it lasts.” Cos one day you’ll have to really work hard to look like that and wont be posting on instagram! I used to be stick thin and even though im still “slim” i look pregnant at 50!

Ha you get this at our gym.

Younger ladies in the most revealing possible outfits - scrunch bum mini shorts & a tiny thin strapped sports bra (not a sturdy support one). They do very little exercise & seem to mainly be there to flirt with young guys with huge arms.

Mores the pity 😁

Maybe if you did more exercise you wouldn’t be aware of their every movement?

@MiddleAgedDread

The shorts you linked aren't hot pants, they're too long for starters. Secondly, those "wierd panels" aren't designed to highlight your bum.... they're designed like that to be SEAMLESS FOR COMFORT..... the clue is literally in the name of the them

Of course there is a practical reason..... it's hotter than the surface of the sun in my gym, I work out in leggings and a sports bra to stay bloody cool!

It’s perfectly appropriate gym
wear. And it’s brilliant to see fit women confident and physically strong.

I go to the gym a lot though, and gym attitude to bodies is different, it’s about physique not perving.

it’s much better than when I was young when it wasn’t cool to be strong as a woman, and everyone thought they were fat

The wedgie leggings 🤮

I think it depends on the gym. In my old gym there was quite a young demographic and a lot of the gym bros dressed skimpily. Not nice when it exposed more sweaty flesh, particularly when they didn't clean down the machines that well after use.

Much happier with the older age range at my new gym. Less posturing.

I'm 40 and wear skin tight leggings and a tight crop top to the gym (not the really short ones, but one which shows a few inches of midriff).
I can think of what else I'd wear. I can't stand tops which ride up when I'm running. When I'm doing certain weights movements, I'm bending over - so if I wore a tshirt it would gape open or fall up my torso and expose my bra. Same with when I'm planking.
It never occurred to me that what I'm wearing might be seen as sexual - it's just standard gym gear. I'm trying to think what the men wear and I can't - I don't notice when I'm there because I'm lost in my own world of sweat and pain!

One thing I do think is that different physiques can make the same outfit looks totally different. So a crop top and leggings on a woman who is very curvy looks way more revealing and attention grabbing than the same outfit would look on a tall very thin woman.

I'm short and curvy...I can wear a dress and it may make me look a bit for want of a better word, tarty and barmaidish whereas the same dress on a thin tall woman looks more elegant and classy.

Men and women should wear what they want - put like that everyone will agree.

The question here is why men don't WANT scrunch bum mini shorts if that is the appropriate gym attire.
Women feel 'empowered' wearing revealing clothes (thongs at the pool, etc as mentioned below).
But men wouldn't do that even though they have always had the ultimate power and freedom of choice.

Society expects men to wear practical and comfortable clothes, and women to dress to enhance their beauty/features. And that's a direct result of the patriarchy and male biology, and what men wanted to encourage/ allow. Women just oblige.

I think it's wrong to say no one dresses for attention.... amongst the demographic on here, probably most of us don't dress like that for attention in the gym....but do younger women and also men sometimes dress for attention...well yes of course...I used to when I was younger! Now that doesn't mean that they should be victim to endless and unwanted male attention and pestering obviously...but of course many people dress to be noticed.

As for the empowerment argument...hmmm...I'm not so sure. The fashion is currently for a particular body shape...they are conforming

What op described - sports bra and tight leggings sound like normal gym wear to me.

Again, nobody should be staring. It's rude.

This thread is depressing and I don't know which side are worse.

Most sports bras are ugly scaffolding, made to stop you jiggling. There is nothing attractive or sexy about them.

I've not seen any woman just workout in just their bra. Most have a crop top on. And if they don't need a bra they wear a crop top instead. And rightly so as men have to wear a top, so women have to as well.

Contour leggings(to give them their proper name) have been round years. And don't seem to be going anywhere.

I'm an oldie, who has put on weight so more into making sure my top hides my bum but I still go to the gym 4 times a week.

I love seeing youngsters fit and looking good. They work hard for their gorgeous bodies, so I don't blame them for wanting to show it.

In the same way I can see the old ladies wear pop socks (or maybe tights 😱) under their tracksuit bottoms I can also notice daft scrunch bum leggings. I can't work out with my eyes shut to avoid seeing these things.

Lycra is entirely appropriate at the gym including the supportive gym bra top. I don't see anyone here judging this type of gym wear. I think the majority of people who are commenting negativily about certain types of gym wear are saying they don't enjoy being confronted with scrunch bum leggings & very often unavoidable camel toes. It's a look that certainly can't be described as modest 😂