Canada: University gym women-only hours proposal causes uproar

Submitted by Mastodon on Thu, 2015-03-05 23:18

Story here. Excerpt:

'A proposal by two McGill law faculty students to have women-only hours at the downtown campus gym is causing an uproar at the Montreal university.

When student Soumia Allalou, 23, decided to get back into shape, she contacted the university's gym and asked when women-only hours were. She was surprised to find that there was no such thing.

"Personally I prefer to work out in a women-only environment. I just kind of assumed they would have women-only hours. I asked them if there was a project for that in the works and they said that they didn't think so," said Allalou, who wears a hair covering and cites religious reasons for her preference. She took to Facebook to voice her concerns.

"I feel like there are many women who have a variety of reasons for preferring to work out in a women-only environment. Whether it's how comfortable they are, whether they have had bad experiences at the gym in the past, whether they have less access to the machines. A lot of women tell me they feel intimidated in the weights section," said Allalou.
...
"All McGill students should be treated equally. Exclusive rights to the gym should not be granted to specific demographic groups. Women who refuse to use the gym when men are present make a choice that they alone are responsible for," reads the petition.

Several of the people who have signed the petition voice similar concerns. One comment by an individual identified as S.B reads: "This is incredibly regressive and paints in dangerously broad strokes of dangerously black and white paint. I don't deserve to be treated as a potential sexual predator wherever I go – neither do you."

Another comment from Phoebe Y reads: "This is absolutely not the solution to a greater issue of inclusivity, body positivity and respect for other religions and identities."'

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Comments

"...the weights section."

Why? Because they can't lift as much as the men there?

Some women are uncomfy for X reason(s) around men at a gym, so men must be excluded from the gym to cater to their insecurities, Same $hit, different day.

Men should ask for men-only hours at the gym so as to avoid h@ving to deal with entitled princesses like this one. They make some of us uncomfortable with their me-me-me princess attitudes to the point of wanting to barf. And covering the weight rack with today's lunch special is something no one wants to see.

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Submitted by Matt on Fri, 2015-03-06 08:54

I wonder how long until someone asks for "this race only" or "this religion only" hours. Why not? If you're going to contemplate gender segregation, why not go all the way?

Women who feel uncomfortable working out in public should just work out at home, or go to a women only gym. They really have no business marching into a coed gym demanding women-only hours.

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Submitted by xtrnl on Mon, 2015-03-09 19:13