Imagine yourself walking to the gym, your heart racing not from the excitement of working out but from the wonder of how uncomfortable you’re going to feel. You enter, and you see the space filled with men and only men. Standing at the gym doors, you start to question whether you should’ve ever decided to come to the gym in the first place.
This is the reality for many gym-going women, especially Muslim women who adhere to the principles of modesty. However, the lack of accessible women-only gyms makes it hard for these women to fully participate.
At Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), there is a gym space shared by men and women called the Recreation and Athletic Centre (RAC), but what’s different about this gym is that it has women-only hours.
While the women-only hours are a great step towards women-only gyms on campus, it’s still not enough due to its inconvenient nature. Since not a lot of time is allotted to these restrictions, it’s unlikely that it suits most women’s schedules.
After speaking with a few regular women gym goers, there was a consensus among them that women-only gyms are a necessity that has been ignored for far too long.
“I go to the gym to feel powerful, but having men there makes me feel small,” said Sylvia Prodhan, a regular at the RAC. Prodhan prefers women-only gyms because she experiences discomfort in a mixed-gender space.
“I think that’s the total opposite of how I want to feel while working out,” she said. “I like to do weightlifting in the gym and when there’s men there, it’s a lot harder. It’s just uncomfortable.”
“I’m lucky that I go to TMU, because unlike other universities TMU offers women-only hours in the gym which makes women-only gyms accessible for me,” she said. “But what about the women who don’t go to TMU? What about their right to accessibility?”
The athletics and recreation department at TMU has also seen an increase in the number of women participating in the gym during the women-only hours.
“We have observed a higher participation of women especially during women-only hours. This is likely happening due to the greater comfort and safety and less pressure and judgement that women-only spaces offer many women,” said Anissa Harris, a fitness instructor at TMU.
“Many women prefer women-only gyms or women-only times because they feel more comfortable and less self conscious,” she said. “Working out in a women-only environment, it often provides a space free from potential judgement or unwanted attention, which I’ve seen.”
Maryam Sekandiri, another female student who regularly works out at the RAC, also believes that the lack of women-only gyms is an inaccessibility issue.
“I have lots of sisters and some of them don’t go to the gym. Their rationale for not going is because of having only mixed gyms closer,” Sekandiri said.
She said her sisters feel uneasy knowing that some people might show creepy behaviour or make weird comments while looking at them.
“There’s also this stereotype around women that they only stay at home or that they don’t have time for the gym. We would have time if we had more opportunities,” Sekandiri said.
The demographic of most women drawn towards women-only spaces often has values or principles that influence them to avoid spaces with men. These values and principles must be respected and accommodated so everyone has equal opportunities.
Tahsen Ahmed is another student who regularly goes to the TMU gym. She is a MusliAm woman who wants to maintain modesty in the gym. Like many other Muslim women, she finds more comfort in women-only spaces.
“Women-only gyms are a luxury. For someone like me who feels safer in female-only spaces, I think having women-only gyms is a far-fetched fantasy,” said Ahmed.
“Whether women prefer women-only gyms also depends on the demographic of women. Muslim women, like myself might be more drawn to women-only gyms but, other women might be fine with going to mixed gyms,” she further said.
She also thinks that due to the normalization of co-ed, many women have accepted the idea of sticking to mixed spaces rather than questioning why women don’t have separate spaces.
Many Muslim women see women-only gyms as an opportunity to take off their hijabs and work out without being as self-conscious as they would be in a mixed gym. However, due to the lack of access to women-only gyms, they are not able to.
To call for more women-only gyms is only an attempt to ensure a more comfortable space. It’s about making sure that our public spaces are fostering inclusivity and safety for everyone regardless of their background.
This is about equal fitness access and it shouldn’t be a far-fetched fantasy.