Welcome to Layalina Productions

The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 10, April 24-May 7, 2009

Ban on Women's Gyms in Saudi Arabia

In March Adnkronos International reported that a group of women in Saudi Arabia founded a movement against the government’s decision to close women’s gyms that are not connected to the expensive hospital “health centers” that are regulated by the Ministry of Health.

The movement’s slogan “Let them get fat,” according to Al-Arabiya English, was launched online after the Ministry of Municipalities and Local Affairs announced that all the gyms not open for medical reasons will be closed despite the public outcry.

The popularity of women-only gyms has consistently grown since they first began opening six years ago at the same time that knowledge about the benefits of exercise and fitness for women was increasing. Many women see it as a safe, comfortable place where they are able to move freely and prevent the stress that so many women have from pregnancy and labor.

Opening women’s gyms is extremely difficult in the gender-segregated Saudi Arabia, BBC News recently reported. Bader Al-Shibani, owner of a men’s club in Jeddah, tried to open one for women, yet says that he “ran into a stone wall at every turn.” Many of the clubs started under the façade of beauty salons, which happened to include exercise classes and fitness areas.

This news of the banning of women’s gyms ironically came around the same time that officials in the government discussed the possibility of women voting in municipal elections, notes The Guardian. The gyms have already been closed in Jeddah and Dammam, as clerics call women’s gyms “shameless” and suggest that women will “be tempted to leave their homes and neglect their husbands and children,” adds the news site.

Women’s participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the conservative kingdom where clerics have great influence. Physical education in girls’ public schools is banned. Sheikh Abdullah Al-Maneea, a member of the Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, said that sports such as football and basketball require lots of movement and jumping, which may “harm girls who are still virgins.”

Reuters quotes Fouziah Alouni, a women’s rights activist, saying, “The idea of female fitness is non-existent within our government,” despite the Ministry of Health reporting high rates of diabetes and bone frailty. There is no government body to oversee women’s health and fitness to take on licensing for women’s gyms, so until that time gyms will continue to close.

Back to articles