Stanford Hosts ‘Women Only’ Training Hours to Promote Inclusivity
“began the initiative after hearing from Stanford women who complained”
Nothing says inclusiveness like being exclusive of certain other people, right?
The Daily Caller reports:
Stanford Hosts Women-Only Training Hours For ‘Inclusivity’
Stanford University hosts women’s-only training hours intended to bolster the school’s “inclusivity,” according to a Tuesday report.
The Ivy League institution’s outdoor education and recreation center will host women-only training hours from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Stanford Recreation and Wellness’ inclusivity committee spawned the initiative.
“[It’s a] safe space to make [women] feel more comfortable, so that there’s no guys ‘macho-ing’ around,” said Irina Vitman, a personal trainer at the center, to The Stanford Daily. “It’s a little less intimidating to use the free weights.”
Stanford began the initiative after hearing from Stanford women who complained about discomfort in large gym environments. The center’s windows will have blackout shades and its glass doors will have barriers ensuring privacy.
“Everything was being used and all the testosterone in the air was super suffocating — the kind of culture you find in the gym, it feels very aggressive and not very welcoming,” said Camille Townshend, a Stanford student, when describing her first experience lifting weights (outside the women-only hours).
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Comments
Sorry, this makes perfect sense, and you’re wrong to oppose it. Yes, providing single-sex hours does promote inclusivity, by making it possible for people to participate who would otherwise be excluded, i.e. everyone who’s uncomfortable with being half-dressed around members of the other sex. Since this discomfort is more common among women than men, it makes sense to start out offering it for women, and then see whether there’s enough demand among men to offer it to them too.
Half-dressed? Like wearing a bathing suit? Silly suggestion. Segregation is OK as long as women want it.
Yes, like wearing a bathing suit, but also gym gear, which is not as revealing as a bathing suit but still more revealing than street wear, at least the street wear worn by modest people.
I think you’re missing the point. The issue is not that women want sex-segregated access to facilities, because the poor little dears are too fragile to exercise with any of those icky boys around, despite being just as capable of being astronauts and firefighters and Marine Force Recon and power weightlifters as men are.
The issue is that men are not allowed to have sex-segregated facilities of any kind for any reason without massive public condemnation and potential lawsuits. It’s a “sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander” issue.
Who says men are not allowed? On the contrary, once women’s hours are established it’s only logical to see what demand there might be for men’s hours as well. Of course the demand will probably be lower, but it might well be enough to justify having some.
Hmmmm, it sounds like the middle East and it’s wonderful sex segregation practices would be a perfect fit for these women!
Indeed. Now tell me why their needs shouldn’t be accommodated here? If there’s demand for this sort of service, and there demonstrably is, why should it not be provided? What gives you the right to impose your postmodern liberal standards on the entire population, a significant portion of which still has the sense of modesty that was absolutely standard in the USA within living memory? You may think your standards are better than those of your grandparents, but there are many who disagree, and they have the same right to enjoy public facilities that you do, without compromising those standards. Isn’t this supposed to be a conservative site, after all? With your attitude how can you answer those who demand unisex toilets and showers too?
Men can always claim they are gender fluid and participate during the women’s window anyway. Right? In the 80s T-Shirts that said “Baby On-Board” were popular and would be most appropriate for Men wishing to avail themselves to the restricted hours.
Reminder: there are plenty of gyms that not only have women-only hours, but are entirely women-only, because there is demand in the market for this. There are some men-only gyms, for the same reason, but a lot fewer because the demand is lower.