Marginalized Gym Times: ‘Your Feelings Do Not Invoke a Violation’
Emily Cobb & Harley Woods | March 23, 2023
On Mar. 16, The Echo News published an article discussing the concept of adding marginalized-gender hours to Devries’ schedule as a response to feelings of lack of safety and comfortability by Warren Wilson College’s (WWC) genderqueer and female-identified population.
Since Mar. 16, the article has received mixed feedback from students and parents regarding the legality of providing niche hours, especially in regard to Title IX.
The discussion of providing niche availability to certain demographics is not a new one. During the 2021-22 academic year, the Herb Crew provided BIPOC-specific hours at the herb cabin. Bryson Gym also provides marginalized-gender hours at the climbing wall to change instruction to more gender-neutral terms.
The college has also shifted to gender-neutral bathrooms in an initiative sponsored by English professor Paula Garrett and Jonathan “Jogo” Gonzales, supervisor of the campus Queer Resource Center (QRC). Bathrooms are now marked instead with either “stalls only” or “urinals and stalls.”
For eight years, Bryson Gym has provided a version of marginalized-gender nights. Before the terminology changed, the climbing wall and Adventure Programs Crew hosted women’s climbing nights. Three years ago, the Adventure Programs Crew changed the language to female-identified and finally to marginalized-gender nights.
Tacci Smith is the current dean of students and Title IX coordinator. She said that the reason many of these shifts have happened is because of the campus culture.
“I think [it’s] because of who we are on campus,” Smith said. “60-65% queer and non-gender conforming, it adds to the, ‘hey, this is more of our narrative, and we want to think about it more than just any other campus.’ It comes from the students who very much say, ‘I would love to have this or I want to sponsor this, or can my crew do this?’”
The weekly marginalized-gender hours at Bryson are on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with all gender identities being welcomed from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Junior and Adventure Programs Crew student leader, Liza Thomas, stated that one reason for providing affinity group programming is to create a sense of community. Thomas added that DEI and industry standards in adventure programming contribute to their training crew members to enter the workforce.
“There’s a lot of different organizations in the area that are participating in this type of programming,” Thomas said. “The Riveter has discounted nights for different groups, Cultivate Climbing has discounted nights for certain groups or they have meet-ups with outside organizations. Outward Bound or Eli Mills — he created an LGBTQ+ outward bound course and he works here now. So this isn’t just us trying to exclude folks, this is an industry standard that we’re trying to reflect here.”
Ava Bur is a sophomore who is on the Adventures Program Crew and is an outdoor leadership (ODL) major. She attended the marginalized climbing nights at Bryson all throughout her freshman year and now works them.
“They [marginalized gender nights] definitely garner the most attendance,” Bur said. “Most students that come back consistently come on those nights. A lot of the people that I've talked to are like, ‘this is my favorite night of the week.’ And it's really fun and awesome and exciting.”
Thomas shared their experience hosting marginalized-gender climbing nights at Bryson; they explained that they do not assume who is cisgender or who is male-identified based on appearance.
“I’ll approach them and say, ‘hey, did you know that tonight is marginalized-gender night?’ I’ll get one of two responses, usually,” Thomas said. “One I’ll get is, ‘no I didn’t, when can I come back?’ Or, they’ll respond by saying, ‘yes I did know that, is it okay that I’m here?’ I can’t say no to that because again it’s not my place to decide whether someone is questioning.”
Bur shared a similar experience about hosting marginalized-gender nights at Bryson.
“Because I'm on Adventure Programs Crew, and we already have this programming — at least to me — it seemed like some of the folks that were commenting a little bit abrasively didn't really seem to understand what the programming was, and weren't really understanding how it actually works,” Bur said. “No one is actually ever turned away. We know very well that that is absolutely not okay if folks are turned away. We can make no assumptions on anyone's identity just by looking at them, and no one else can. So I understand why someone just reading something can take it as this is exclusionary. This is the reality of the programming, it's not exclusionary.”
Other students, such as sophomore and Fiber Arts Crew member Ann Scherer, shared different experiences with Bryson Gym.
“I’ve had male friends say, ‘I have been turned away from the space in Bryson because it was marginalized night’,” Scherer said. “It bothers me that they’re still being singled out because — at least to my understanding — cis-men are a minority at this school.”
Thomas stated that if anyone previously has felt discriminated against that they invite discussion and conversation.
“A, that’s not what we’re going for, and B, if someone does feel discriminated against I would love to change it and find a way that feels better for everyone involved,” Thomas said.
Adventure Programs Director, Bruce Hills, included that he is open to the idea of hosting a range of time for cis-gender males only if that is desired.
“I’m not sure how many would say they prefer that, but I do understand that there are marginalized-gender folks who definitely prefer time without cisgender men present,” Hills said. “I get it’s an equity issue and that I can’t say they shouldn’t feel a certain way. If they feel discriminated against, then I’m ready to work to try and make it feel equitable.”
As far as Title IX goes, Smith said that marginalized-gender nights on their own do not violate any code of conduct.
“Someone has to say something, touch you, do something very specifically against you, for it to be a violation,” Smith said. “Your feelings do not invoke a violation.”
In regards to their experiences at Devries, Thomas stated that they felt hyper-aware of those around them. They use headphones without listening to music so that they can pay more attention to their surroundings.
“In high school, I was a power-lifter, so for me, I only use the atrium because that’s where the squat racks are,” Thomas said. “I can’t tell you the last time I went in there and there was another female or AFAB person using the squat rack. I’m always the only female person in there.”
Thomas included that because of the movements and exercises that are pertinent to power-lifting, they are always self-conscious about their presence in the gym.
“Who is watching, who is behind me, do I feel safe to complete this movement — emotionally?” Thomas added. “I’ve left multiple times mid-workout because I’m like, ‘this is fucking ridiculous I’m just being stared at.’ And I know what’s happening, I’m not naive.”
Thomas stated that when an incident did occur, they stated that they did not feel that there was adequate staff support at Devries to report the incident.
Bur also felt the same way, stating how although she used the gym frequently last year, she no longer does due to similar instances that left her feeling uncomfortable and discouraged.
Because Thomas is the Adventure Programs Crew student leader, they stated that they believed it easy and necessary to assert their boundaries at the climbing wall when receiving unsolicited advice or commentary. While at Devries, however, their role changes. They are not a sports team member and are not a student leader at the facility.
“In a gym setting, I just know that the people around me are stronger than me or they think they know more than me whether they do or not,” Thomas said. “I almost always just grin and bear it or I leave. I wish I had the confidence to approach people in that setting too but I just don’t.”
Smith discussed narrowing marginalized-gender specific hours to rooms throughout the day. For example, the cardio room can host marginalized-gender hours while the atrium is open for all, then vice versa after the hour has passed. Smith then explained that even if this was not implemented, marginalized-gender gym time at Devries would not violate Title IX.
“The ‘you can't use it right now with this time’ is not [a violation] because you get access when we have said, ‘here are the open times,’” Smith said. “That is a scheduling piece, right? If some gyms scheduled something, every single hour that they were open, and there was not an open time, that could be a violation that could be seen as like, ‘you're holding out, you've stacked this so much that you can't get into the gym.’”
RunRepeat performed a survey in 2021; the survey consisted of 3,774 gym members, 1,107 of which self-identified as female and 2,267 who self-identified as male.
The survey revealed that 56.37% of the female respondents stated that they had experienced harassment first-hand at the gym. Further, 92.31% of these cases go unreported. Of those cases, more than a quarter of female gym members stopped using the gym entirely to avoid harassment.
RunRepeat then broke down the type of harassment experienced. The survey showed that one out of four female members experienced unwanted attention, one out of five experienced unwanted comments from other gym members and one out of ten female members experienced unwanted physical contact.
BarBend performed a similar survey, receiving over 1300 responses — over 98% of whom self-identified as female. Four out of every five respondents reported having felt unsafe at a gym.Nine out of ten respondents reported that their workout performance or intensity was affected by unwanted attention. Three out of four respondents reported that they had received unsolicited advice and had received unwanted comments at least once per week.
BarBend concluded from the survey that, “interactions like the ones described in this survey create low self-worth, anxiety and distraction in an environment that should positively affect mental health.”
Hills shared that his experience at the gym also revolves around being self-conscious. However, Hills’ feelings are in response to how someone else may feel about his presence.
“I’m self-conscious and aware that I might make someone uncomfortable,” Hills said. “I don’t like to be interrupting or pushing into someone else’s space whether it be male or female. I’m very aware when I’m thinking if someone is female-bodied that I might make them uncomfortable.”
This concern about behavior is something Scherer also expressed.
“I definitely think [cis-men] should be included in on the conversation,” Scherer said. “I’m fairly certain that at least the vast majority of them do not want to hurt anybody and they’re just going there to workout.”
Hills and Thomas shared the notion that excluding cisgender men from certain facility hours — for the benefit of marginalized genders — creates an element of safety that is wanted and asked for. Scherer, on the other hand, expressed her belief that this would create division between cis-men and the rest of campus.
“Already we kind of see a divide — at least I see a divide — with the cis-men on campus,” Scherer said. “They have their own cliques and groups they stick within. That is concerning to me because I kinda get the feeling they feel that they’re not really included in a lot of the political discussions or just in general a lot of the other activities that are going on around campus. I think to further push them aside is going in the wrong direction.”
Smith expressed her belief that the opposite is true: that hosting marginalized-gender hours can foster positivity in the WWC community.
“We don't want somebody at the door being like, are you cisgender? Are you gender non-conforming? Are you marginalized? Are you not?” Smith explained. “Let's all be good community members and realize we are providing a space and time for folks. Let them enjoy it as they have self-identified and walked into it.”
Additionally, when it comes to marginalized gender times at Devries, this selective time would be advertised properly and in advance. That way, people on campus would know about these times in advance and would not be surprised or hindered at the last minute. The only time people of non-marginalized genders would be removed is if they were not respecting the gym space and the people in it.
“I think if the person comes in, does their thing and doesn't cause a problem, it’s fine,” Smith said. “I hope there's nobody trying to be a jerk about it and just walking right in because they can do that. Then by all means, it's justified to be like, ‘nope, you are purposely violating what this time period is.’ So that person wouldn't have a [Title IX] violation, and wouldn't be able to file a complaint about it. And you could ask them to leave if they caused a problem about it.”
Something that Scherer and Thomas agree upon is increasing the number of staff or crew members present in Devries and increasing training on gym etiquette.
“The word that I think was used was cis-men dominating the space, or non-marginalized people dominating the space,” Scherer said. “It kind of just means they’re the majority, not that they’re intentionally taking up as much space as they can.”
Despite these precautions, Smith said that if anyone feels that their personal Title IX protection is being violated, to come and speak with her.
“If someone has felt a violation against themselves — not for a friend, not that they've heard — by all means, we encourage people to contact me, to talk about that, to file it to do all that kind of stuff,” Smith said.
Students can contact Smith at tsmith@warren-wilson.edu and find her information on the MyWWC website under the section Campus Life.
