
“Let me guess ladies??? You feel unfit, unattractive, self conscious and worthless… especially when standing in front of the mirror naked.”
That’s the beginning of a recent social post by independent gym, HTFU Fitness Adelaide, which has sparked accusations of sexism and fat shaming from several followers.
Shared to the company’s Facebook and Instagram accounts this week, the post reads: “You feel embarrassed and ashamed getting naked in front of your partner… You’re sick and tired of picking outfits that hide your fat. And you want to feel comfortable in your own skin, wear your favourite outfits, feel fit, confident, attractive and sexy.
“But there’s a problem. You’re too afraid to join a gym because you’re too embarrassed, ashamed, self conscious, worried about being judged and most of all, you’re just too nervous to commit.
“But that stops now. We understand you.”
The post was met with several comments accusing the company of demonising larger bodies and perpetuating the myth that only thin people can be fit or happy.
“‘Worthless? Ashamed? Unattractive?’ What a disgusting way to advertise to women,” one wrote. “You should be ashamed.”
“I can tell you I do feel embarrassed, ashamed and self-conscious all the time. And having posts like this pop up in my feed definitely don’t make me feel better about myself,” added another. “The idea that a business would deliberately, and proudly, use those feelings to try and drive up the number of people who attend their gym is disgusting.”
Another offered a few suggestions for improvement: “You can start by NOT calling women ‘worthless’ because of their weight. You can then come to the realisation that MANY MANY WOMEN are happy at various weights, and don’t ‘pick outfits to hide their fat’. They’re not ashamed, they’re just living their damn lives without wanting your judgement.”
Clinical psychologist Louise Adams, body image specialist and founder of UNTRAPPED, told Mamamia that while HTFU Fitness Adelaide may “have some inkling” of how some women are feeling about their shape or size, their proposed ‘fix’ is highly problematic.
“[HTFU Fitness Adelaide] is perpetuating the idea that we all need to look a certain way in order to feel OK, and that’s horrendous,” she said.
“There’s no doubt that many humans, including many women, feel bad about their bodies; there’s no disputing that. But the solution isn’t to change our bodies to fit the ideal. That’s where [this gym] gets it wrong.”
Top Comments
The psychologist says "the idea that changing your body will give you a body that you’ll like is just not true.” That might be true in psycho-babble land but in the real world, it is probable that a better, fitter, leaner body WILL promote a better self-image.
My eyebrows are immediately raised at any man who refers to women as "females" in conversation. It is dehumanising and in my experience, a guarantee that the guy speaking is a misogynist. Couple that with the absolutely tone deaf post and subsequent refusal to admit that it missed the mark and there's no way in the world I would join this gym.