Posted on 02/27/2008 10:48:14 AM PST by sdk7x7
Engineering freshman Dara Elass wears long sleeves, pants and a burkha, a head scarf traditionally worn by Muslim women, every time she pays a visit to Pottruck. She follows traditional Islamic law, which requires that women cover up in the presence of men - even at the gym.
But if Penn follows in Harvard University's footsteps, students like Elass might be able to shed their layers.
Last month, Harvard implemented women-only hours at its Quadrangle Recreation Athletic Center in an effort to allow Muslim women to exercise in a more carefree setting. For six hours each week, only women are permitted to enter the facility - a rule that makes some males on campus unhappy.
"They're commandeering a community space," Harvard sophomore Adam Moss said in an article that appeared in The Harvard Crimson.
The new policy, which is an "experimental situation" according to Harvard associate athletics director Jeremy Gibson, will be evaluated in the coming months and the athletics continue the policy or make it permanent.
Though Elass acknowledged that all-women gym hours might be "inconvenient" for others, she said such a policy would make her feel far more comfortable.
"I would have more freedom to take off my scarf and wear short sleeves," she said. "It would just make life easier."
Elass said she never went to the gym last semester because she couldn't get used to the idea of working out in front of males. Her physical-education classes in Bahrain were always segregated by gender.
"I don't feel comfortable stretching, sweating or exercising in front of guys," she said.
Athletic Department spokesman Mike Mahoney said no one has approached Penn Athletics yet with such an idea, and added that women-only hours would be "hard to pull off" at Pottruck .
He pointed out first that Harvard's QRAC was one of several different fitness centers on its campus, while Pottruck is Penn's primary workout facility.
Men on the street would still be able to view users during women-only hours due to the building's architecture and glass windows.
Though Mahoney said the department would be open to discussing the issue, he added that it would be a "difficult juggling act" to carry out such an initiative based on the original purpose of the building.
"When Pottruck was opened, it was a center that was open to the entire community and in that sense it was supposed to bring people together - black, white, Asian, Muslim, male and female," he said.
College junior and Muslim Students Association vice president Amanda El-Dakhakhni said that many Muslim students and faculty members have suggested that such a policy be implemented.
"I think there's a significant number of women that would take advantage of it," she said.
Although there has not yet been a push for a policy similar to Harvard's, "it's definitely wanted," she said. "This might be the next step of making [the MSA] known on campus."
El-Dakhakhni suggested making one level of Pottruck women-only for a few hours instead of closing the entire facility, an idea that Mahoney said would likely be unfeasible because "the building is open for everybody."
How about Chrisians only hours? I don’t feel comfortable in a building with members of a belief system that wants to either dominate me or behead me. How about no Muslims in the US?
Pay attention to what they are doing around the world. Pay attention to the Koran. Keep them out of this country and deport all we can!
What was I reading yesterday about America MUST be a melting pot, and not the PC salad bowl? Stupid crap like this really makes that point well. Wher edo we draw the line? At every ethinicity, and sexual preference except white heterosexual male?
LOL
What about the transgendered students? You know that will be a huge issue at Harvard and the other Ivies. Two liberal groups fighting it out. I will get the popcorn.
“What about the transgendered students?”
Then it is up to them whether they feel as a man or woman at the time.
barf alert ping
I am the opposite...I only enjoy working out in front of women. Therefore, I would request that the gym hours be co-ed.
I do hope they will accomodate.
I would hate it if the Y I go to were to have women-only hours and men-only hours.
I would quit if that happened. I can only go and work out when I get a break between jobs I’m working on, and if I were to find a free hour to run down there, and walking up to the entrance I saw a sign saying “Women Only-Come Back Later” I’d tear up my card and membership and join a separate club.
Doesn’t bother me at all to have both sexes exercising, I don’t pay attention to anything but the workout I’m on.
Ed
I agree with the idea of gender-segregating the gym, but not the reasoning as well. Too often, especially on college campuses, you get the guys trying to either check out the girls or impress them, and the girls are either trying to impress the guys or complaining about the guys checking them out.
My solution would to be build/renovate one on-campus workout place to be gender-segregated (there would still be plenty of co-ed workout space - even my not-so-big school has at least 4 or 5 ‘fitness centers’). In addition, they could have slightly smaller and lighter equipment for the women, and move stuff like free weights or yoga mats between the two sides as needed.
chinese men who pick up muslim women who work out in burkas and long sleeves... are definitely taking pottruck...
if your religion inconveniences you... change your religion...
performing acts of faith, like working out amidst men while your in a burka displays your faith...
t
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