Universities look at women’s only gym times

/

Some universities have toyed with the idea of women's only gym times. (Photo by Ryan Hueglin)
Some universities have toyed with the idea of women’s only gym times. (Photo by Ryan Hueglin)

If youโ€™ve stepped foot inside a gym recently, you may have noticed the rising trend of fitness centresย  accommodating womenโ€™s only time slots and facilities.

Now, this feature is not only incorporated in corporate gym chains, but also on university campuses.

Ryerson University, for instance, is currently looking into creating specific gym hours for female users.

โ€œStudents came to us and said โ€˜this is a need that we haveโ€™ and weโ€™ve been working with students to make it happen,โ€ said Melissa Palermo, president of the Ryerson Studentsโ€™ Union (RSU).

โ€œThere are women on campus that werenโ€™t able to use [the facilities] for religious reasons or for reasons to do with past experiences when they would have felt uncomfortable in those situations with men.โ€

Nothing has been finalized, however.

โ€œRight now weโ€™re just in the lobbying process,โ€ she added.

When asked about any vocal opposition to segregated gym times Palermo could not point to any.

โ€œWeโ€™ve collected over a thousand, I think close to two thousand, surveys and the response has actually been overwhelmingly positive. Most people of all genders actually have been quite accepting of the idea and have responded in really positive ways.โ€

However, a Facebook post by RSU from last month, which outlined the plan to create womenโ€™s only gym times, generated some online criticism.

One commentator wrote that men and women should not be segregated in any sort of university facility.

While it is still up for debate at Ryerson, other campuses have already accepted gendered gym times as the norm.

Larissa Sage, a masterโ€™s student at the University of Toronto already experiences segregated gym times at her schoolโ€™s gym.

โ€œI donโ€™t see any reason not to have it,โ€ she said. โ€œItโ€™s not like the entire gym goes into lockdown mode and only women are allowed in.โ€

Sage dismissed the argument that these policies cut down on menโ€™s opportunities to access facilities. โ€œIf there are enough men saying โ€˜I would like thatโ€™ [segregated hours for men] then Iโ€™m sure any quality establishment would consider that as well.โ€

Wilfrid Laurier University is among other universities looking at creating womenโ€™s only gym hours.

Pat Kitchen, associate director of recreation and facilities at WLU explained that some women may feel more comfortable working out during segregated gym times.

โ€œUltimately our goal is to get as many students in the space being healthy and active,โ€ she said.

โ€œWhen we actually designed for the addition and renovation we knew that we wanted to have the ability to have womenโ€™s only [capabilities]โ€ added Kitchen.

When asked about any concerns over the segregated facilities, Kitchen assured that Laurier has โ€œdesigned it such that in the segregated space there is a range of equipment so you can go in there and have the same experience that you would have in the rest of the fitness center except for some of the high free weights.โ€

She added, โ€œso males and other women that maybe donโ€™t care to have a segregated system will have lots of room.โ€

Not only will there be plenty of equipment during the womenโ€™s only hours but segregated areas and programs will provide opportunities for new-comers of both genders.

As more fitness centres begin to provide exclusive hours or areas for female users, the debate of segregation continues to be a hot topic amongst campuses.

โ€œItโ€™s not just for women, but even for males that might be new to [gym] experiences,โ€ Kitchen said.


Leave a Reply

Serving the Waterloo campus, The Cord seeks to provide students with relevant, up to date stories. Weโ€™re always interested in having more volunteer writers, photographers and graphic designers.