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Gym Bans “Inelegant” Women

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springlering62
springlering62 Posts: 7,913 Member
edited June 14 in Debate Club
I don’t know about you ladies, but “elegance” is the last thing on my mind when I’m getting my sweat on.

Enjoy!

Gym faces wrath of the ajummas for trying to ban middle-aged women

June 14 2024, The Times (Sunday Times, UK)

A gym in South Korea has provoked an angry reaction by banning middle-aged women, drawing attention to the country’s lack of rules against discrimination.

The owner of the unnamed business in the city of Incheon has defended his decision to post a sign declaring it “out of bounds to ajummas” — a word meaning “auntie”, but which is applied to women of middle age, and has pejorative implications of gracelessness. “Only cultivated and elegant women allowed,” the notice says.

The gym denied it was being misogynistic. As reported in South Korean media, the gym lists the characteristics of the ajumma: “Ajumma have a tendency to like free stuff regardless of their age. Secondly, they get criticised everywhere but are the only ones who don’t realise it. Thirdly, they frequently take seats reserved for pregnant women on public transportation, though they are not pregnant.”

Furthermore, according to the notice, ajummas “order one coffee for two people at cafés and ask for an extra cup”, dispose of rubbish in public lavatories, and repeat themselves. “Lastly,” it concludes, “if they fall over, nobody helps them.”

The gym owner told South Korean television: “Ajummas bring baskets of laundry to the gym, use hot water for one to two hours, doubling the water bill. They also make sexually inappropriate comments to younger female members, like ‘You’ll have healthy babies.’”

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  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,348 Member
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    "Ajummas bring baskets of laundry to the gym, use hot water for one to two hours, doubling the water bill."

    Well, if that's the issue, just ban people who wash laundry at the gym :mrgreen:

    This is such a weird thing, Asia really is very different - I'm wondering if 'ajumma' has any clear sort of definition, because it seems quite... peculiar?
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,913 Member
    edited June 14
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    Sounds an awful lot like their version of “Karen’s”.

    No definition. You just know one when you see one?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,112 Member
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    This is a really distasteful post, springlering.

    I choose to NOT give airtime/attention to this sort of stuff.

    I mean...

    ...probably the same people would like that gym as the people who like to pay for sex. To each their own, I say.

    There is a YMCA near me, and a Senior Center. All ages are welcome there. I wouldn't want to go somewhere that is so shallow, anyway - but I can't stop others from being d*cks.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,673 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    This is a really distasteful post, springlering.

    I choose to NOT give airtime/attention to this sort of stuff.

    I mean...

    ...probably the same people would like that gym as the people who like to pay for sex. To each their own, I say.

    There is a YMCA near me, and a Senior Center. All ages are welcome there. I wouldn't want to go somewhere that is so shallow, anyway - but I can't stop others from being d*cks.

    I mean... given how many sex workers there are.... 🤣
  • jess2023mac
    jess2023mac Posts: 25 Member
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    Inelegant?
    Only cultivated and elegant women allowed?

    Wow, I'm so glad I don't live there. :/ I'd never fit in. :)
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,651 Member
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    Why am I finding this so funny? I mean...ageist much? But still!

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,913 Member
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    glassyo wrote: »
    Why am I finding this so funny? I mean...ageist much? But still!

    Sure good to see you. Seems like it’s been a while!
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 745 Member
    edited June 27
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    So, this gym policy is overtly a bit combo policy for age and pretty people.... which we see favored heavily in all forms of media, and conversely, often ridiculed/jokes poked about others who are older, not attractive/overweight.

    Noticed this profoundly in episodes of Las Vegas produced in the early 2000s. One episode was with the pool, and complaints about the non-pretty people using the pool. Staff tried to deter/redirect the non-pretty people out of and away from the pool, and it did not come across as promoting social acceptance.

    There have been so many shows with this kind of bent.... and how much occurs in day to day encounters... It/ageism, sexism, weightism has a negative profound bullylike enduring impact on the target... and, would include the derogatory term 'karen' which i have seen deployed on reality tv just this year, by a person who also would call out comments as "that's so disrespectful."

    All of this is sheer unwarranted inappropriate and harmful disrespect/discrimination, imho.

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