Posted on 04/26/2006 2:33:31 PM PDT by LibWhacker
LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (AP) — A chain of fitness centers has put up partitions in response to complaints by Muslim women about a lack of privacy while they work out.
Fitness USA agreed to the changes at its Lincoln Park gym after meeting with a concerned Muslim member of the gym and Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Some Muslim members of the gym said they need to work out in single-sex rooms to meet Islam's standards of modesty. They said they joined Fitness USA because it accommodated this need.
But the gym recently opened a new area open to both sexes, and from there, men were able to see into the women's section, Walid said.
Jodi Berry, administrative director for the chain, based in Oakland County's West Bloomfield Township, said the company had been unaware of the problem. After the meeting last week, Fitness USA installed some panels and frosted glass that completely block off the women's area from the coed room, she said.
CAIR praised the company's decision.
Can you believe that? They deleted my severed head. Personally, I thought it was about as tasteful as a severed head can get.
Lol, I knew that pic wouldn't last long. That's why I saved it to my hard drive and bookmarked it! :-)
After I saw that first childbirth, I was scared of the vagina too.
There, all better.
What kind of business do you run?
I didn't look are you crazy.
Thats not what I was refering to.
because we have choices in this country and if we do not like something, then we have the option to not do business with that company and go somewhere else. If every time we didn't like the way a company ran a business and we demanded they change to suit our needs based on what we believed we were entitled to, companies would be changing the way they do business all the time.
The muslim women, if they were that concerned about not working out with men, should never have joined a club that catered to both men and women. There are clubs that cater just to women for the very reason they mentioned - modesty. If they do not like the way the club ran their business after they joined, then they can demand their money back and take their business elsewhere. It's like a company being told that they have to operate a certain way because if offends a group of people if they don't. I'm sorry. That doesn't wash here in America.
You hurt a business by not giving that company your money, not by demanding them to change to suit your whim. What will be the next thing they demand?
Now, if the clubs equipment was bad or their was a health risk, then you can demand changes but to change the design of a club because the women are modest? Puh...leeeze.
*there* was a health risk
sorry
All women were promised separate facilities and the ability to workout in "total privacy".
If you signed a contract that promised you "x" and you got "y" instead, you'd expect the company to make it right.
From the gym's website...
"Separate Exercise Facilities
All Fitness USA locations provide separate exercise facilities for women, giving you a comfortable environment to support a healthy lifestyle. Here in total privacy, your fitness needs are analyzed. Personalized programs are designed using all of our state-of-the-art equipment and professional supervision."
I didn't want to look, but my wife insisted. It was a "beautiful moment". No, the beautiful moment is when they bring the baby back to you all cleaned up.
Everything before that is yuck.
Thank you and well said
If every time we didn't like the way a company ran a business and we demanded they change to suit our needs based on what we believed we were entitled to, companies would be changing the way they do business all the time.
Companies do this all the time. You don't think companies respond to the desires of their customers? Any company that doesn't do that doesn't stand a chance of lasting very long. If the company feels the demands are unreasonable, they will ignore them. If they feel that it's worth it to them to make changes, they will make changes. McDonalds, back in the day, responded to the desires of their Catholic customers by introducing the Filet-o-Fish sandwich so that they would have a non-meat option on Fridays. Companies change all the time based on the desires of their customers.
It's like a company being told that they have to operate a certain way because if offends a group of people if they don't. I'm sorry. That doesn't wash here in America.
Nope. If the government told them that, I would agree with you. As it is, a group of people who are at least in part responsible for the success of the company made a request to the company. The company didn't have to listen to them. They chose to. That's the way America works. It's a capitalist system. Companies make decisions based on their bottom line. They decided it was worth it to them to make some changes in order to accomodate their customers. I'm amazed that people, particularly here on FR would have a problem with this. That's how businesses work.
Also, have you seen the hamburgers that Burger King advertises? Do your hamburgers really look like that when you purchase them? Should we all go into Burger King and demand our hamburgers to look exactly like what they are advertised as? Or, if we are not getting what we thought we should, do we exercise our free will and take our money somewhere else?
Free enterprise is great. If these muslim women still have their "private" section of their gym, then they are having it "their way" and the gym has fulfilled their contract. If the muslime women are venturing into the coed section and complaining that they want change - I'm sorry, they're going to have it the company's way - with pickles or take their business elsewhere!
Once again, I'm going to ask. Why does anyone care what a private company does to satisfy their customers?
Yeah, sure thing, that's all it is. Any time a customer believes a company's done him wrong in America, it makes the national news. *KNOCK, KNOCK*...HELLO? ARE YOU IN?
Are you really trying to validate your position by what the media does and does not think is "news?" OK, If you want to use them as your authority.
Nowadays in stories involving muslims the subtext is always about jihad and dhimmitude. This is not simply a story about a company not keeping its promise.
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