Nerd Pride Radio

So I've been going to the gym lately and I usually go with two or three of my kids every morning. When I first joined about six months ago, they gave me the tour and showed me the door to the "Women Only Workout Space." It was a very elaborate door. After some coaxing, I convinced my daughters to go in there and see what it was like (the door is quite intimidating in its elaborateness). It has a set of all the nautilus machines, a treadmill, a stair climber, an elliptical and free weights. They declared it "pretty good."

So when I talked to my wife about this, she said, "That's stupid, we shouldn't need that." And while I agree with her general sentiment-- that it sucks if society is such that women need there own segregated work space to comfortably work out-- after several months of observation, I've decided that it is necessary. Here's some of what I've observed:

-If you are a woman under 40 and, without headphones, you use any kind of cardio equipment (the aforementioned treadmills, ellipticals, etc.), older men (50-70) will stand in front of your equipment and talk to you. And in that way where you either have to politely make small talk or just be rude. This will happen at least twice during a 30 minute period of working out-- both times with different gross guys. Be aware that this does not happen to men when they work out.

-If you are a woman under 30, weigh under 200 pounds, and don't have a third arm growing out of the top of your head, then-- no matter where you are in the gym- there will be two men staring at you at all times. You may not be aware of it, and some of them think they may be cleverly staring at you through the mirrors, but they'll be there gawking. Be aware that this does not happen to men when they work out.

-If you are a woman of ANY AGE and you use any kind of free weights or weight equipment, there is a 33% chance on a given day that a guy will approach you and ask if you need help with the equipment. Be aware that this does not happen to men when they work out.

-If you are a woman under the age of 40 and are using any kind of free weights or weight equipment, men will slowly congregate to your general vicinity and start doing curls or weird stretches that are unnecessary. Be aware that this does not happen to men when they work out.

-If you are a woman under the age of 40 and are having a session with one of the gym's personal trainers, during that hour at least two guys will come up and strike up conversations with the trainer-- during your time! Be aware that this does not happen to men when they work out.

For real- the behavior of men at gyms is just awful, and puts on full display how we objectify women.

Guys, stop being gross.

Wow. Not at all surprised, but it's lamentable. And this is in a room (I'm sure) full of men who would never think of themselves as sexist and most of whom would claim to be supportive of women and women's rights.

Yes, I wish there were no reason these women-only facilities were needed, but unfortunately, that's not the case yet.

Kyle, you're a meta-voyeur, scoping out the old men checking out the women.

Sad that such a room exists but totally understandable.

Thankfully this does not occur much at my gym, which is one reason I like it there, but in other experience, yeah, sounds sadly normal. Not sure why our gym is better in this regard, but it has a very genteel atmosphere overall. Not sure how to describe. The one time I went to pilates there were very old men looking straight down my shirt, but to be fair, there we all were on the mats, contorted into horrible positions. None of us could help it. It's like playing a game of painful Twister and expecting your neighbors not to take a look at your butt, which unfortunately is in their face because some sadist encouraged this move.

I wonder what gym Bill O'Reilly attends.

Watched a gentleman who must have been in his 70s circling a woman in her 60s working with a personal trainer. A little disheartening to think that even at that age you can be such a pig.

I think Cougar is more specifically a name for an older woman ogling a younger man. We jokingly call my hair dresser (a straight man) cougar bait for that reason.

It's not just men, to be fair, but many women seek out that attention and praise the men for giving it, while ridiculing or otherwise judging women who don't care for it, so the men are both piggish and trained to be piggish by positive reinforcement. I'm sure this is not exclusively a heterosexual-ogling issue, either. At least some of the younger gay men I know have serious concerns about their objectification, and it's a tricky problem when these practices are reinforced socially.