Muslim Women Want Single-Sex Workouts

[deadparrot]

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. - About 200 Muslim women who have memberships to the Fitness USA chain of athletic clubs have signed a petition asking the gyms to honor what they say was a promise to provide separate exercise times for women and men.

Arrwa Mogalli, 28, of Dearborn, said she bought a $1,465 lifetime membership after being promised that a Lincoln Park facility would be open only to women on certain days.

The gym in this Detroit suburb opened a new part of the center this month to both sexes every day.

"I felt like all the money I just spent ... has gone to waste," Mogalli said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060421/ap_on_re_us/muslim_women_exercise

[supernova]

1. Uh? Curves?

Just a suggestion. There are health clubs that cater to women exclusively.

[rocktivity]

34. If they're not willing to deny they made the promise

then the women are owed either what the club promised, or a full refund.

:headbang:
rocknation

[JVS]

45. Wouldn't giving them what they want be breaking their deal with men?

[caligirl]

62. Knowing the backround of the Curves owner, as a prochoice female

who cares about the freedom to choose, I would prefer to see Curves out of business or sold to another owner. Profits end up in the guys hands and have been used for antiabortion activities.

[noonwitch]

2. She can go to the YWCA or Curves

But Fitness USA should give her a refund if they changed their policy. She picked them over others because they had all female times.

I'm not a muslim, but I prefer not to exercise around men, either.

[Warpy]

3. No YWCA here

and none in a lot of smaller cities.

I would dearly love to be able to swim at the Y. I really hate mixed sex swimming. I'm an old broad and I'm WAY over it.

There are times, on days I'm feeling especially fat and unattractive, that I'd welcome being able to hide under an abaya.

However, it needs to be a CHOICE. All of it.

[Sisaruus]

19. Our YWCA had to go coed.

Our YWCA had to go coed in an equal access out-of-court settlement.

And Curves contributes to the radical wing of the anti-choice movement.

[LostinVA]

20. And, from what I have been told, Curves isn't a total gym, per se

[Bridget Burke]

4. If Fitness USA promised separate exercise times.....

Then they have broken their promise. Apparently, the club says there was nothing "in writing."

Health club "memberships" are often scams. Perhaps a lawyer could help?

[trixie]

26. If they were promised it

and then the policy changed they should get a full refund.

I myself am a Y member and love it.

[Dora]

5. Some women prefer not to go to Curves.

I understand the CEO is a donor to anti-choice organizations. I understand that individual gyms are franchises, but some women may still choose to boycott Curves.

[medeak]

10. they also have to admit gay men or any men to Curves

(don't know what straight guy would want to go) as legally they were challenged.

Best friend owns two franchises. She hates the anti abortion stance and convinced why Oprah won't allow founder on her show despite his please with staff.

[stanwyck]

36. I don't belong, but have been told

by women who do that there Curves has a rightwing, fundamentalist Christian culture -- literature within the club. Posters for "pro-life", etc.

[Jersey Ginny]

59. I looked into a franchise. You are right. It is a right wing run company

[rodeodance]

6. sorry to say-but they should have gotten it on writting.

[supernova]

7. I agree with you

If there's nothing in the contract about it, then she's SOL regardless of what the sales pitch was.

[Jim Lane]

8. Not necessarily

Whether she's SOL would depend on the terms of the written contract.

The issue shouldn't come to litigation, though. Presumably she hasn't used the membership at all. Sensible management would say, "We don't offer gender-segregated exercise times, we're sorry you didn't understand that, here's your money back, mazel tov." Changing the bad publicity to good publicity would be worth it to the gym.

On edit: I see now it's not just one disgruntled customer, but about 200. Given the amount of money involved, it would be cost-effective for the gym to buy some folding room dividers, and retain these customers while not excluding men who were promised full access.

If the women sue, the gym might lose. It might also win a Pyrrhic victory after considering legal fees and bad publicity.

[Orangepeel]

16. you are right. the gym is already losing

Even if a "tough shit, you should have asked for it in writing" defense would work in court, it isn't going to play well on television. A local TV or newspaper "problem solvers" report will only make the gym look greedy.

If the women were trying to get money beyond a refund -- like some sort of pain and suffering award, it would be one thing, but if all they want is their money back? It's stupid not to give it to them.

[0007]

11. I think so!

[BrightKnight]

63. She is very stupid or playing political games.

Did she really expect that they were going to close the gym to half or more of their members? All of the male members are going to adjust their workout schedules to avoid her?

It is not difficult to find a female only gym if that is what she was looking for.

I get the feeling that she is trying to play political games.

--------

Some women will wear a large tee-shirt and baggy sweat pants to the gym. It usually has more to do with insecurity than burkas. I have seen an occasional head scarf.

Even the Baptist church I once attended had a cooed gym.

The gym can be a bit sexually charged at times. Most people are just there to work out. Perhaps she should save some of that energy for her workout.

[newswolf56]

9. Gender exclusive exercise programs should be everyone's right,

female or male, Muslim or not. (A male who is oddly big-headed and otherwise vaguely disproportional and has therefore been physically unattractive all my life -- not to mention the additional and profound ugliness that set in 11 years ago after I quit smoking to "get healthy" and got fat instead -- I have always been loathe to exercise or work out within eyesight of women, and I know for a fact many other men feel precisely as I do. Indeed the only exceptions are the superjocks and body-builders who preen and strut as a kind of mating dance -- activity that belongs in a singles-bar, not a gymnasium.)

[Hekate]

22. Many, many women feel just as you do.

Congratulations on quitting smoking, btw. I wish my daughter would (well, actually she can quit -- she's done it many times -- I just wish she could make it stick).

Yeah, gyms are just not that fun for those of us that need them most. In this appearance-obsessed culture, it's really easy to feel judged by one's body.

As for the Muslim women, I hope they prevail. Best-case scenario is someone got it in writing, but absent that, they still have a good case against the bait-and-switch gym owner.

Hekate

[Blue_Tires]

29. good points

and i agree with those that said the gym 'contracts' can be EXTREMELY shady when you try to end your membership--there are several consumer sites out there filled with complaints...

i'm off to the rec center right now...gym, weight room, basketball court and pool, all for $20 (!) per year.....

[stanwyck]

37. Many women are intimidated, also, by

the bodybuilder men who feel compelled to "show you how that works, little lady." I belong to a large, franchised gym -- it's close to my house and has convenient hours -- open very early and very late. Which suits my work schedule. I generally do the scheduled classes -- Pilates, kickboxing, light weights. But sometimes I do the free weights or machines on my own. I have a routine setup by a trainer. Yet, too often, one of the bulked up guys who seem to live there feels compelled to "help" me out. It's intrusive and insulting.
I know many women who won't join a co-ed gym because they're too self-conscious. They feel badly enough about their bodies without adding the scrutiny of the opposite sex.

[tammywammy]

58. I'm intimidated by those men

but also the super-fit women wearing the latex/spandex outfits.

I had a membership to this one gym that I loved. There was a dress-code saying nothing spandex, no muscle shirts, etc. I liked that everyone was wearing loose shorts/pants and t-shirts.

Now, I prefer to work out at home. I don't even use the gym at my apartment, because I really hate working out in front of people.

[Centered]

55. Completly agree

Let's keep religion out of the issue, If it were just for a religion I would say screw you don't impose your morals on me. But for a gender issue I would agree, there should be 3 areas in a "superclub" coed, male and female. Then the patrons can decide where to go. I realize not all clubs will have the space for this but I don't have a problem with gender exclusive clubs. Personally I also wouldn't be at all opposed to having clubs for obese persons, I know that some friends of mine have various self esteem issues trying to concentrate on their workouts while the fit person waiting to use the machine is impatient and jokes with friends about "fatty" taking too long to do a sit up.

This will probably never happen but it would be nice. I wonder if the ladies misunderstood and thought that gender only class times also extended to use of the clubs services. $1400.00 would be great for a lifetime membership to a gym that's almost as much as my friends 2 year membership contract.

[Ilsa]

12. I feel bad for them. They were given a promise that the facility

has reneged on. I hope they can get their money back or get what they want in terms of gender separation. Not everyone wants coed workouts.

[sarcasmo]

15. The reason I will never sign another contract as long as I live.

What was said verbally may not be what was in writing.

[kestrel91316]

24. That's what lawyers are for - to interpret boilerplate for the rest of us.

[CTyankee]

13. At Literacy Volunteers, we hold separate classes for Afghani

women and men and provide same sex tutors to those classes. I think it's sad not to have coed classes, which is real life in the U.S. (these Afghanis are refugees with political asylum in the U.S). However, if a mixed class interferes with their learning English then we want to provide the best learning environment. The female tutors (Americans) we have teaching the women's classes have an extraordinary bond with their tutees, although they get somewhat frustrated by the Afghan women's infantalized behavior, which is a result of their lack of any contact with the outside world.

[David__77]

14. She didn't get a written agreement?

That's just not smart. Oh well...

[CreekDog]

17. Verbal agreements worth the paper they're written on

If the promise is verbal, I'll commit verbally.

Put it in writing, I'll commit in writing.

That's a good way to handle these things.

[aquart]

18. Lucille Roberts would solve their problem.

[fujiyama]

21. The company should

either go ahead institute seperate days/put up the barrier for men and women (this might appeal to man non Muslim women as well), or simply refund their money.

But I do have to say, if they didn't get what they wanted in writing, it's difficult to prove what one representative of the company may have said. This may be a case of one guy misreprenting the policy trying to sell a membership.

In these kinds of cases, usually the consumer loses out. It's like when salespeople try to sell extended warranties on products, stating that "they'll fix anything that goes wrong". That's rarely ever the case. It's all a matter of what the fine print says.

[bitchkitty]

54. 200 women say that the promise was made...

that's a lot of eyewitness testimony!

[depakid]

23. If the gym made the representations

and the women can prove they relied on them in signing the contract, then it may well be enforceable.

Seems to me this is just a mundane legal matter.

[trixie]

25. Why is it that those who are most sexually repressed

have the most to say about sex? It is as if they are fixated 24/7.

[Harper_is_Bush]

32. Who are you to call American Muslim women "sexually repressed"?

[Dutch]

61. A citizen of a democracy

Therefore she has freedom of speech, much as that concept still seems to infuriate you (note- I'm not necessarily agreeing with the poster whose right to express an opinion you're questioning).

[genieroze]

27. They should have got it in writing.

[w4rma]

28. Tough. (nt)

[greenman3610]

30. I understand the motivation

but, shit, I like having women around.

If all I had to look at was grunting jocks in
dirty tees, it would be pretty depressing.

[ShortnFiery]

47. I agree, it's fun to people watch ...

I'm no prize of a gal, but it's still fun to see all the interaction, prancing, posing or just trying to get one's workout in during lunchtime. :-)

[noamnety]

52. That's exactly the point

These women aren't interested in having their bodies gawked at to elevate men's moods.

[blondeatlast]

31. With the high percentage of Muslims in the area, providing

single-sex workout rooms is simply a smart bidness move.

They need to cough up the dough to build it or go the way of the dodo.

[Harper_is_Bush]

33. This is a AP story because........oh yeah, it's "Muslim" women.

What if a bunch of white mostly Christian women got together and made such a petition?

Cue the crickets.....

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stanwyck]

38. I think the point is they were told when they paid

their money that separate gym times would be made available. They're not asking for something new -- they're asking for what they were told they would have when they joined and paid. It's about honesty. This isn't about religion, but about consumer rights. I imagine you expect to get what you pay for, don't you?

[LostinVA]

41. Gosh, nice progressive attitude towards immigrants

"Go back where you came from." My Irish and Italian ancestors were told this very thing.Of course, that as in the 1880's and 1918... not 2006. Glad attitudes have changed so much. If course, then they weren't liked because they were Catholic... not Muslim. So, I guess the religion targeted has changed, anyway.

I believe the women were told this. I personally see nothing wrong with having some same-sex workout times. I daresay some older women and heavier women would be more apt to work out, which would be a great thing.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LostinVA]

44. OMG

[Harper_is_Bush]

48. "Islamic values" = slavery and oppression of females?

You are generalizing in a hateful and ignorant fashion.

I know many Muslims, and their women are free to do as they please and slavery is not part of their lives.

What is it you really fear?

[Name removed]

49. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Harper_is_Bush]

51. What's happening in France has more to do about economics than religion

learn your current events.

[Harper_is_Bush]

46. Are you kidding me?

"Sharia law"????

What part of the OP exactly had anything to do with "Sharia law"?

"go back to where you came from"?????

Many Muslims are 2nd and 3rd generation. What do you want them to do? Just get out of America?

"Laws and customs"?????

You've lost it. Are there laws against unisex gyms? What country are you from?


Three strikes, you're out.

[LostinVA]

39. I know lots of white, Christian women who would like this

ie having women-only workout times. I was telling some friends about this last night, and ALL of them -- all straight, white, CHristian, professional women -- said they would love to be able to workout without guys around, especially using free weights. I found this very interesting. The only thing I don't like is when 'Roidhead gym rats act like they can hog the free weights nd machines like it's a God-given right because they are Roidhead men. I actually had one tell me that once -- "Women use the machines here, not the weights." I'm at a smaller gym now, and I have no problesm...

But, anyway, I thought my friends' remarks were tres interesting.

[SoCalDem]

40. They might want to pool their money and start their own gym.

Are they being forced to work out?..Must have missed that in the story :)

[Squatch]

43. Open to women only on certain days?

I wonder how the men who paid $1465 lifetime memberships would feel about that.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

50. I can sympathize

When I first started working out while living in a small town, there were two options: the local franchise of Gold's Gym, which was filled with sweaty bodybuilders and skinny young women in skimpy workout clothes, and a locally-owned women only gym.

There was no question which one I joined.

[NC_Nurse]

53. Meh.

Start your own gym with the 200 ladies.

[Bridget Burke]

57. If they had their refunds, they might consider it.

If the health club doesn't return their money, perhaps charges should be filed.

Health Clubs are well known scammers when selling long-term or "lifetime" memberships. How about a trial that reminds everyone of this fact?

[robcon]

56. This is a hot button only by mentioning Muslims

This is an ordinary disagreement. Let the lawyers figure it out. It's not like there are no women-only gyms.

It seems like a poor business model if there are women-only days, since many men probably don't want join when there is a some-days-allowed, some-days-not schedule.

If they want women-only gym days, they probably need exclusively women-only gyms, IMO.

[Book Lover]

60. While I completely disagree with the women's premise,

they deserve to have their verbal agreement honored. And why not? Now Fitness USA has literally hundreds of angry customers. How hard would it be to accommodate their needs? And as the many replies on this thread indicate, many non-Muslim woman (and a few fellas, I see) would like a same-sex place to exercise. Looks like a liberal businessperson could make some dough catering to this population...