Good news. The ladies only classes have stopped at my leisure centre.

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I have to hand it it you, Frank, you sure stick to your guns! Hope your trip to the hospital goes well.

By default, there are MEN ONLY sessions at my nearest leisure centre.

Men using the gym were so unaware of turn taking, some were downright aggressive, some would hover near the machine they wanted to use.

Their attitude was such that women stopped attending sessions when they knew these men were about, rendering them men only sessions!

What strikes me most about this thread is how patient and tolerant women can be

Learnergran.... true!

HunterF is the dog in the manger. It never ate hay, but by lying on the hay it prevented anyone else eating it - it was his right to sleep wherever he liked.

I meant to add:
When we asked for women only sessions we were told (by the then male manager) that this would be unfair to the men!!!! & and but great for Frank!

IMO men have a much stronger sense of entitlement than women do. If they want something they go for it without too much consideration of how this might effect others.

Yes, a generalisation, but true of so many men.

Or affect, not sure, pedants take your pick.

petallus i am sure you are right. It starts in childhood. Some interesting research was done in primary schools though I cannot now remember by whom. The pupils were asked whether teachers paid more attention to the boys or the girls. The boys said that the girls got the most attention and the girls said the boys. In fact, cameras had been recording and the boys got two and half times more of the teacher's time on average than the girls.

Yes, and there has been similar research done on talking. Men say women do all the talking but findings are that men talk as much or more.

And don't even get me started on housework! Too late, I've started. I'm sure we've all read that men's perception is that they do half the housework but analysis shows they do much less than their partners.

DH is awful on both these counts.

I think men who insist on joining an aerobics class which is obviously aimed at women are being insensitive and selfish.

...and they look daft in leotards...

Definitely!

A couple of years ago when DD2 was working on The Gods Weep for RSC she was gobsmacked one day to find that only she and Jeremy Irons had turned up for the daily cast yoga session (but given the thought of self in lycra, maybe not!

Hi jo7.

You said ''I think men who insist on joining an aerobics class which is obviously aimed at women are being insensitive and selfish''.
I have spoken to several women who said they wish their husbands would come.
No we do not wear leotards. We generally wear a sports shirt and shorts.

May I ask why did those women reprimand me for not going to the Sunday class for about 4 weeks if they did not want me there.
Oddly enough a woman did say a few weeks ago yoga and possibly pilates might suit me but I can not make the time these are on at the moment.

Frank

I recomend pilates if you can make it. Have a look around I am sure there will be loads of classes on different days and they will all be very different

I think of aerobic classes being, usually, for younger women, either to keep themselves trim or to lose weight. I think they would mostly be happier if no men were present. Perhaps the women in the class you attend, Frank, were being kind to an obviously harmless old bloke. (ie patronising?)

Or perhaps you are just cuddly and totally un-threatening.

Could you manage a beginners' class of spinning?

Or weights?

This discussion is getting very peculiar (this is the first time I've seen it) but what stands out for me is one of my pet hates - the assumption that "ladies" is the female equivalent of "men". NO!!!. Ladies and gentlemen, men and women. To call women "ladies" when you are comparing them to "men" sounds to me patronising, as if they are not real people but rather decorative little things (providing they have their make-up in place) not fit to join in proper pursuits.

As for women-only or men-only classes, it seems to me that if there is a demand for either, go for it, but if not, why should any business, including a council-run leisure centre, waste money these days?

"ladies" is nicer.

[tso]

Frank, I hope you wear decent shorts and underwear. My experience of males in classes has been of gaping legs of shorts during floor exercises and even 'bits' flopping out - yuk! I am generalising here, but I also found that a large percentage of the men were dangerously unable to keep in time to the music and smelled of unwashed kit! I am sure this does not apply to you Frank.

[being put off my lunch] emoticon, shysal!!