I've been dancing since I was little (ballet and some hip-hop). I also got into lifting weights and going to the gym a few years ago. Although there's definitely a lot of sexism in the ballet world too, the amount of oversexualisation and whatnot in the "gym environment" and on fitness Instagrams annoys me. It's so different to what I experience in the dance world (my classes are admittedly mostly only girls and one gay man) that I'm tempted to just give up going to the gym, or else pay more for (and commute to) one of the few womens' only gyms around.

The amount of leering (to the point I have to stop exercising sometimes and stare back - downright dangerous if I'm handling heavy weights), "what's your name?", gaslighting when confronted, and harassment (even by PTs - I have already have to make a complaint after joining the gym after just a few months) in the gym is disgusting. I've read numerous articles detailing how this is a problem for most girls in the gym. Unless I change to a womens' only gym, I am almost undoubtedly going to experience this wherever I go. Even when I was in the gym of our apartment block as a kid, a disgusting old creep called me a "tart" (I was too young to know what it meant but my mom was FURIOUS).

I'm also tired of the constant narrative that "girls should lift," not because there aren't some benefits to women lifting weights (there obviously are) but the REASONS usually given why girls should lift. It's always posed as for the benefit of men - "Do squats! Get thick legs! Get a booty! Men think girls who lift are cool!" Additionally, I follow a lot of female "fitness influencers" on Instagram (lots of who DO actually post good advice), but more of more of them are posing like soft porn models to the point it's a massive turnoff even for me, who loves fitness. I'm always encouraged to "lift very heavy" by even female personal trainers I know (tl;dr - it can hurt my dance if I bulk up too much), and, when I question them as to why, it always comes down to the same thing: "Men like girls who lift. Don't you want to build a booty and curves? Why not?" (Because I dance ballet, I am very slim - by my choice). It's like the whole "Men like strong mommy bangmaids who go 50/50 and never ask anything of them" nonsense. Ironically, one of the more "feminist" and less sexualised Instagram fitness accounts I follow is by a Victoria's Secret model.

Any other FDSers have a good strategy for dealing with gym harassment? What fitness environments have you found to be more female friendly? What fitness accounts do you follow on Instagram? :)