Gym Scarrey
I don't know what your fitness plans are like, but every now and then I try to peel myself off the couch to take an evening run in the park. The other day I went running super-sexily dressed in my regulation sweat pants, running shoes (um, obviously) and oversized t-shirt, my hair a hot mess, my face gleaming with sweat and bright red, all while dragging along my panting dog on her leash. A pair of vagabond-looking men were sitting on a park bench, and when I passed them, one emitted a cartoony wolf-whistle, and the other said, “Bow wow-wow.”
What on earth is THAT supposed to mean? Is he calling me a dog? Is he talking to my dog? To me? Is it a put-down or a come-on? And also: gross.
Still, I much prefer the ambiguous harassment of hobos to the creepy peeping that happens in a gym, but that’s just me. Stories like this make me feel even less inclined to take my exercise routines inside, though. michemiche posts on the Gym Rats board: “Ok, I love the gym, but I've been totally psyched out. I swear I thought a guy took a picture of me at the gym while I was working out. So creepy, I haven't been back since…I can't handle the creepy guy thing. It is especially hard for me to handle the sexual looks and come-ons when I want to work out… I need a bit of advice on how to repel the creepos.”
cl-jeanwl responds: “An iPod, averted eyes might help, even if you appear stand-offish, at least they'll leave you alone.”
ivil_cas123: “When I notice some creepy guy undressing me with his eyes while I am tryin to get my fitness on, I give them a dirty look and say, 'can I help you with something?’”
somerandomthoughts adds: “Also, lifting more weight than the guys usually also tends to scare the creeps away.” You go, girl!
How do you avoid creeps at the gym? Isn’t there anywhere a lady can try to “get her fitness on” (as ivil_cas123 puts it) without creepy harassment or stalkitude?
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I find it easy to avoid creeps at the gym...by sitting on the couch with the remote instead. ;)
Hmm, seems like the only way to get these people to stop is by directly approaching them. It sucks, but they need some serious smack-down for what they're doing!
Unless I'm completely oblivious, I don't think the guys (or the girls, for that matter) are checking out other people at my gym. I love my gym because it seems like no one cares what anyone else is doing... everyone's just focused on themself.
I think if something like Michemiche's experience happened to me, I would have to tell the owners at the gym. Any gym worth going to would have managers who would tell the guy he can't go round taking pictures.
Join a women-only gym!
ever try a womens only gym? *just a thought*
Try getting older. I'm in my 50's and nobody gives me a second look in the gym.
I can't stand it either! It makes me lift harder though... I just complety ignore them, or do my bitch glare :)