A Melbourne gym has come under fire after a member slammed its ‘December Challenge’ on social media, claiming it is “misogynistic.”
The Club Lime member shared a photo to Reddit of a sign promoting the gym’s dead hang challenge – an exercise where participants hang from a bar with straight arms for as long as possible.
The sign showed two prizes up for grabs: one for women and one for men.
The women’s prize was a tank top from the brand Sporty Shorty, while the men’s prize was a hamper filled with energy drinks and protein snacks.
“My gym’s idea of equality: Pink top for girls, Entire supplement aisle for boys,” the user wrote.
“Dead hang challenge prizes – misogyny hanging on stronger than all of us,” they joked, claiming that “it reads as an assumption of what each gender would prefer … which is dumb.”
The post quickly struck a chord, racking up 2.7k likes and nearly 400 comments.
Many users agreed that it didn’t sit right with them either.
“This is weird. They could have just done the same hamper for any winner,” one person wrote.
“Why couldn’t they (give the supplements) to the female winners?” another asked.
Others were more blunt, branding the setup “pure meathead energy,” “cooked,” and “gross.”
“I thought we left this kind of sexism in the 1940s,” one commenter said.
However, some defended the challenge, pointing out that the women’s top, worth about $65, could be similar in value to the men’s hamper.
Still, many argued the winners should have been allowed to “pick what they want.”
Some also suggested the differing prizes may have been donated by separate local businesses, and the post was “not that deep.”
“I think you’re reaching here,” one Redditor responded. “So many reasons why they could have done it this way.”
News.com.au contacted Club Lime Malvern for comment, but the gym declined.
It is understood that the prizes were donated by small businesses in the area.
