McGill students might disagree, but female-only hours at the gym are completely legitimate.
But wait, you probably say, what does that mean for gender equality? How could you say separating men and women while they work out could be a good thing?
For one, there is religious concern. All Carleton students pay for membership to the Athletic Centre, but women who wear religious head coverings may not attend because they cannot take their head covering off in the presence of unknown men. Although I’m not one of these women, it strikes me as very uncomfortable to be wearing a head covering while sweating it out —not to mention they usually wear long-sleeved shirts and full-length pants. None of that sounds ideal to work out in, and by having female-only hours, we can make the gym a more inclusive space for everyone.
It is ridiculous everyone pays fees to the Athletic Centre without really being able to use it.
But the main reason female-only gym times would be legitimate is because athletic spaces are inherently masculine. They’re mainly dominated by males, and males are more celebrated in that space. If you’re going to contest that statement, I would like to point out the sayings “throws like a girl” or “runs like a girl.”
Society likes high-profile female athletes, such as Serena or Venus Williams, or Lindsey Vonn, but they are never near as high profile as, say, Sidney Crosby or LeBron James. From what I’ve noticed in the gym, men take up most of the space, and women are mostly found on the cardio side. Having female-only hours could change this.
Not to mention females generally have more issues with body image, which eating disorder statistics confirm. According to a story by the CBC, there were 1,585 hospitalizations from eating disorders among females in 2013, with half being in the 10-19 years old range. For males of all ages, the number for 2012-13 was 103.
Women may not go to the gym because they feel intimidated they are overweight, or they do not have enough muscle tone to fit in. They don’t want to be watched, potentially made fun of, or shamed for the way they look.
In my experience, the Carleton gym has generally been positive and encouraging, but the fear these women have stops them from realizing that. If there were female-only hours, perhaps more women would try out the athletic facilities and become confident enough to go to the regular gym hours as well.
And then there’s the issue of staring. From what I’ve seen, women may check out men at the gym, but they do not out rightly stare. Sorry men, but it does not work the other way around. I know male friends of friends who go to the gym to “get gains” but also to check out the girls, and I have countless female friends who tell stories of getting off the treadmill only to realize a guy on the bikes behind them has been staring at their butt for the past 15 minutes.
I’d like to say we’re at a point in existence where everyone can just be active at the gym without concerning himself or herself with anyone else, but we are not at that point.
Having female-only gym hours would encourage women to visit the gym and de-masculinize the space. By helping women realize there is nothing to fear at the Carleton gym, they can gain confidence in themselves and not need to attend female-only gym times. Other universities in Ontario have them, and the result has been positive.
As a whole, we should be striving to not need female-only gym times, but we just are not there yet. The Carleton pool has female-only hours, so why not the Carleton gym?
