Weighty Topics

In security camera footage that went rapidly viral, a young woman lets in a fellow gym-goer gesturing at the door, who appears to have forgotten his keycard.

Within seconds, he is chasing her around the deserted gym, violently attacking her and ultimately pinning her to the ground. Impressively, the young bodybuilder, around half his height, gets him in a chokehold long enough to dial 911 into her phone.

It is many women's worst nightmare. And whilst this incident was extreme, many say harassmentUnwanted attention that makes someone feel scared or upset.  or sexism in gyms happens all too often. In a new TikTok trend, female gym-goers are highlighting the harassment they experience at the gym with a new hashtag - #GymCreep - which has gained hundreds of millions of views.

It should be an uncontroversial movement. Everybody wants the gym to be a safe space. But the clips, which are mostly filmed in public gyms, have attracted a lot of critics. Many say that it is unethical to film strangers without their consentAgreement with full knowledge. , especially as their faces are rarely blurred before the videos are uploaded.

Others have said that many of these videos do not even show harassment. Several female content creators came under fire for uploading videos of men simply glancing at them or walking past as they worked out, calling them "creeps".

Some male content creators have gained millions of followers by criticising the trend. Fitness influencer Joey Swoll has built an impressive following of 6.5 million people by criticising #gymcreep video-makers whose claims he sees as unconvincing. These women then often face a lot of abuse.

Many fear that women are being encouraged to falsely accuse men of harassment for views on social media. But others say it is the opposite. Now, women are too scared to share videos of their experiences in case they face abuse online, while the men criticising the movement have built profitableSomething that can make a lot of money. careers.

Yes: Clearly, these male influencers are trying to discreditShow that something or someone is untrustworthy or unbelievable. women's stories of harassment. They are highlighting videos where the harassment is more doubtful in order to imply that all women's claims are false.

No: It is not men trivialisingMaking something seem unimportant or silly. the argument, but the women who have made these videos. We should understand that making false claims against strangers is serious, and also that it trivialises the stories of people who have really experienced sexual misconduct in public.

Or... Clearly, both groups are at fault. But we should keep in mind that the victims here are the women who are suffering very real and targeted harassment in gyms, whose stories are now being discredited because of a few outliersExamples that are different to other things in the group, such as differing behaviour, beliefs, or religious practices. Outliers cannot be used to draw a conclusion about a group. .