A woman captured the moment a man encroached on her space while at the gym, sparking outrage online and debates about men intimidating women in public spaces. Taking to her TikTok page, British fitness instructor Charlie posted a video where she was filming herself giving a weightlifting tutorial.
Unfortunately, her work was abruptly interrupted when a man came up behind her and dropped a heavy dumbbell right behind her.
Highlights
- Woman films gym tutorial; man, ignoring her, drops dumbbell in her space.
- Charlie's viral video sparks debate on men intimidating women in gyms.
- Man's behavior linked to negative influence of influencer Joey Swoll.
- Psychologist notes gyms as 'masculine spaces' that can intimidate women.
- Studies show many women face harassment and feel unsafe at gyms.
The space invader, who has remained unnamed, quickly moved away, leaving the heavy piece of gym equipment in Charlie’s obvious workout space, making it nearly impossible for her to carry on with her online coaching.
Fitness instructor Charlie captured the moment a man intruded on her space while at the gym, sparking debates about men intimidating women in public spaces
Image credits: fitwithchaz
After trying to gain the man’s attention by turning to him and exclaiming “sorry,” as she pointed out that the man could hear her because he had no headphones in, the man continued to ignore her.
“What the f*ck just happened there,” Charlie said in disbelief before she eventually decided to move the dumbbell in order for her to continue her work in peace.
Charlie’s gesture prompted the man to shortly come back and stare at her in dubiousness, all while the fitness influencer was exercising.
Image credits: fitwithchaz
“Your reminder to take up your space in the gym, my girls,” Charlie wrote in the video, which has now gone viral and amassed 5.2 million views.
The video baffled many viewers, as a person commented: “The way he glared after seeing it was moved as if he was there first.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Yeah no that dude was totally in the wrong. Straight up in her space.”
Taking to her TikTok page, Charlie posted a video where she was filming herself giving a weightlifting tutorial
Image credits: fitwithchaz
A separate individual chimed in: “What if you didn’t see him put it there and tripped?”
Other viewers pointed to the fact that fitness influencer Joey Swoll, notable for his reactions to videos of people working out at the gym and filming themselves, had poorly affected people’s behavior, especially against women at the gym.
“Intentional or not. this is the kind of environment Joey Swoll’s videos have created for women,” a person commented. “I have not seen Men who film in the gyms deal w/ this sort of harassment and attitudes,” they added.
Image credits: fitwithchaz
An additional viewer added: "This behavior is a direct result of Joey Swoll's content, so idk why ppl are tagging him. Men like this see women filming & take action."
Just last week, Joey received backlash from a woman who had called him out for provoking cyberbullying after she had posted a video of herself at the gym.
“Joey, you used your ginormous platform to say what you needed to, so I’m going to use mine, and I really don’t care how small it is.” the content creator said.
Charlie's work was abruptly interrupted when a man came up behind her and dropped a heavy dumbbell right behind her
Image credits: fitwithchaz
She went on to argue that as a result of Joey’s video, she had been at the receiving end of his fans “spewing hate” at her, and linked her experience with a previous article that addressed a video Joey had made against another woman, who ended up receiving death threats.
After initially experiencing the unpleasant, unwarranted encounter, Charlie wrote in the caption of her video: “The gym is absolutely everyone’s space. I never mind people walking in and out of videos.
"I had been using the bar in this rack, and he had seen me training there, so he absolutely knew what he was doing."
The space invader, who has remained unnamed, quickly moved away, leaving the heavy piece of gym equipment in Charlie’s obvious workout space
Image credits: fitwithchaz
“Take this as your reminder to be kind to others and take up the space you deserve.”
Australian psychologist Carly Dober explained that gyms “are traditionally very masculine spaces.” She told News.com.au: “Many men, especially in male-dominated spaces, do not truly understand how intimidating it can be for some women.
“If we are giving him the benefit of the doubt – he may have been trying to connect with her and meant nothing untoward by it, but how this is received from her perspective, and someone else’s on the internet, is a completely different story.”
“What the f*ck just happened there,” Charlie said in disbelief before she eventually decided to move the dumbbell to continue her work
Image credits: fitwithchaz
A survey from Run Repeat supported this analysis, as it showed that almost 56 percent of women have faced harassment during their workouts.
Another study suggested that 69 percent of women admitted they do not feel safe or adjust their behavior when receiving unwanted attention from men while exercising. Moreover, 92 percent of harassment cases in the gym go unreported.
Psychologist Carly said gyms and fitness centers were known for “perpetuating very hyper-masculine behaviors” that can leave women feeling unsafe.
Watch Charlie's video below
She said: “This can include things such as excluding women, not taking the expertise of women seriously who are there to work on their own health and fitness, and ‘mansplaining’ exercises and techniques to female gymgoers.
“Being in the weightlifting community myself, I do know that many gym attendees can feel frustrated and annoyed when other people in the space might film themselves either as influences or as part of their role.
Fitness influencer Joey Swoll has been accused of promoting disrespectful behavior towards women at the gym
“If this is what was going on for the male, I would recommend that instead of making the female feel unwanted and very uncomfortable, instead approach the owner of the gym.
“He could also simply have stayed out of her way, let her do what she is there to do, and focus on his own workout.”
Readers congratulated Charlie on how she handled the "awkward" situation
