Sometimes when women are trying to get a workout in at the gym, they’re also forced to navigate harassment and objectification. Creepy stares and glares. Catcalling and repeated requests for their phone numbers.
According to a 2021 survey from Run Repeat, 56% of women reported facing harassment during their workouts. And women are now documenting behaviors that make them uncomfortable with the hashtag #gymcreep on TikTok. Thanks to the trend, men who follow women around or grab them inappropriately are caught on-camera.
“We can use these viral videos as very powerful tools to show the problem,” says Leilani Carver, Director of Graduate Strategic Communication and Leadership and the Director of Undergraduate Communication at Maryville University.
But digitally shaming people is not always the best solution, Carver cautions. Research has shown that the pile-on effect of online shaming can instead trigger sympathy toward an offender.
“That’s one difficulty of posting a one-sided TikTok: It’s not a conversation. It’s not a productive back-and-forth.”
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What is the #gymcreep trend on TikTok?
As of Tuesday, the tag #gymcreep, which includes videos showcasing inappropriate behaviors like casual remarks about a woman’s body or outfit, prolonged stares and groping, has over 76 million views on TikTok. Similar hashtags, like #creepygymguystories and #gymweirdos, both have over 2.8 million views.
These viral trends, Carver says, can empower women to speak out and raise awareness.
“If you can record what’s happening, it allows you to show others, ‘Look! This is happening. This is real. I’m not making this up,'” she says. “This can be a great tool in making men aware of how they can be creepy when they don’t intend to be, but also in making gyms aware of how they can empower women to report creepy men at the gym.”
The problem with some of these viral TikTok trends
While most of these videos serve to help others, it’s also important to remember that not every action is deserving of the #gymcreep label.
In one viral video, a man is recorded wandering around the gym and making eye contact with the camera, after which two women warn viewers to “beware of the creeps.”
“Walking past someone to go to the station (you’re) working out at and briefly glancing at them for less than a second does not make them a creep,” bodybuilder @thejoeyswoll said in a response to the video. “There are women out there that get harassed at gyms. There are creeps. How do you think those women would feel watching this video?”
Carver explains, “There’s the complex factor of filming without consent, because in a way that can also become a form of harassment.”
“Things can be taken out of context, and with these viral videos, the person may not have a chance to reply,” she adds.
TikTok videos are a short-term solution to a larger problem
Carver advises those posting these videos to consider:
- “What is the purpose of this video? What does it convey?”
- “Will it spark discussion?”
- “Is it showing what fully happened?”
But ultimately, the solution to the issue of unwanted advances at the gym should not fall on women.
“We never want to make someone who has been harassed feel like they’re doing the wrong thing, because the harassment is real. It’s not their fault that these creeps are following them around,” Carver says. “Social media is a powerful tool, and we can use it to create awareness and hopefully educate men on how they may be a ‘gym creep,’ even if they don’t intend to be.'”
