This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Kelly Xiong. Find her on Instagram at @k.3lly. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
There has been a bit of a trend recently where women online share how they’ve changed up the way they dress in the gym. For a hot second now, the “in”/popular look for women at the gym has been sports bras and shorts or leggings that emphasize the glutes — such as scrunch leggings and shorts. It is still popular right now, many big activewear brands are very much profiting and capitalizing off of this. However, some women are now straying away from this and turning to dressing more modestly in the gym.
Everyone has their different reasons for how they dress the way they do. The arguments and complaints made by many men about how women dress in the gym are not news. Whether they’re calling us “prostitutes” or saying we’re “doing it for attention”, these rude and judgmental comments by men about women and how we choose to dress are something that we are unfortunately very used to.
Dressing more modestly in the gym became a bigger topic of discussion when women started attacking other women for their choices. Some, to promote dressing modestly, began commenting on the women still choosing to wear the more revealing sports bra and shorts or leggings that show off the glutes.
The promotion of dressing modestly should come without shame or judgment against others. Some TikToks made promoting modesty in the gym do so by saying you’ll look more “elegant”. Though nothing bad is said directly, this kind of language insinuates that if you’re dressing more revealingly, you look trashy. Others’ arguments are more direct at making a pass at women who are dressing more revealingly at the gym saying that they are “half-naked” and have no respect for their bodies. These kinds of language are used very clearly imposing judgment and shame upon the women who are still rocking sports bras and shorts.
In the year of being a girl’s girl and supporting other women, we should not be attacking, judging or shaming each other — especially not for something as silly as what one is wearing. We already have enough men doing that, we do not need to do that to each other.
There are many different reasons why we dress the way we do at the gym. Maybe the more revealing outfit gives you more confidence, or you just want to show off your gains. Maybe an oversized T-shirt and sweatpants are what make you feel most comfortable when working out. Whatever your reasoning is for dressing more modestly, it should not involve other people or putting down those who do not share your same thoughts and opinions. Many TikTok users have also come online to critisize some of these statements and claims arguing for modesty without shame. Some are saying that it is problematic to insinuate that in order for one to have “respect for their body,” they must dress modestly. This is a very common argument used by men to slut-shame women and shame them for dressing more revealingly. Why does respecting yourself and your body have to equate to how you dress? And why does it matter? The gym is all about working on yourself. You should be able to wear whatever makes you feel the most comfortable without any shame or judgement. If long sleeves and sweatpants are what makes you feel like the best you at the gym them keep doing just that. If sports bras and glute enhancing shorts are what makes you feel the best in the gym then keep that up.
What are your thoughts on this topic of discussion? Do you agree with the modesty without shame argument? Let us know in the comments.
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