Women's Gyms to Be Banned in Saudi Arabia

by POPSUGAR Sex & Culture 24

Feeling too lazy to go to the gym? You might jump on a treadmill or lift a few weights in solidarity with women in Saudi Arabia who face the shutdown of all women-only gyms.

Saudi women already face extreme limitations on their freedoms under Wahhabi Islam: they are not allowed to drive, vote, or run for public office; they must be covered in the presence of unfamiliar men; and they're required to have a male guardian.

And now, because the government has agreed to license fitness clubs for men only — categorizing women's gyms as unlicensed and illegal — they have nowhere to exercise without the scrutinizing eyes of men.

In protest, Saudi women recently launched a campaign called "Let Her Get Fat" which protested the decision to close down all-female fitness clubs that are not under the supervision of a government hospital or clinic.

Even entrepreneurs are frustrated. Interested in hearing why? Then read more.

Businessman Bader Al-Shibani, wanting to open a women's fitness club in Jeddah along with the men's club he runs, was told by the government they didn't have the authority to let him do that. "I ran into a stone wall at every turn," he said. "In the end, I just abandoned the project."

So what's the big deal about women working out? For one thing, in a kingdom that intensely regulates the female body, the idea that a woman would focus on strengthening her body — for her own gratification — must rankle patriarchs on a symbolic level. Leading Saudi clerics see an even more imminent threat. If women exercise, they argue, they'll be tempted to leave their homes and neglect their husbands and children.

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