A woman who was asked to leave the gym solely due to her outfit has taken to social media to speak about the incident.
Julia Maren posted about the interaction on her Instagram account in September. She recalled how an employee told her she would be forced to leave the gym if she didn't put on a shirt over her sports bra.
Referring to the incident as an example of “double standards and sexism” she wrote:
“So you’re telling me that because three inches of my waist is exposed that I’m not welcome in the gym but meanwhile … Chad is over there with a cutout that shows his whole nipple? Got it. Thank you for taking time out of your day to let me know that double standards and sexism still exist.”
And now, more recently, Julia has spoken in further detail about the whole debacle in a YouTube video.
Check it out here:
Julia explained that she simply feels most comfortable working out in a sports bra. She says she shouldn't have been told cover up considering there was nothing mentioned about a dress code in their policies when she signed up for the Tennessee gym.
She explained: “It wasn’t really an act of rebellion… If that’s what I’m most comfortable and I don’t want to be drenched in sweat, then why wouldn’t I work out in that at a gym?”
Related - Lizzo posted this video of her in revealing lingerie to promote body positivity:Julia also felt that the request was made “aggressively”, revealing that this sort of interaction would have sabotaged her confidence when she was younger.
She added: “When I think about the person that I used to be… an experience like that would have crushed me, and I literally would never have gone back to a gym because of it.”
The gymgoer revealed that she aims to break the "cycle" of gender discrimination and body shaming.
“If somehow where we can get to a place, universally, where women don’t have to constantly feel like their body isn’t enough, and they are not good enough, [for] whatever shape or size you are, then we have not done enough,” she said. “And that’s where I’ll end.”
