When Religion and Exercise Collide

Scenario 1: At my oldest son's swimming lesson recently, the teacher, par for the first day, had all the kids line up next to the pool. It became apparent that one little girl, a devout Muslim as indicated by her abaya (a long black robe that covered her to her wrists and ankles) and hijab (the head scarf), intended to swim in all of her clothing. Our Y has a strict "no street clothes in the pool" policy of which I have run afoul of once myself, getting into a heated argument about swim shorts with a lifeguard who was probably a fetus when I was on Spring Break so what could he possibly know about women's swimsuits, not that I'm still bitter or anything. Anyhow, the girl's mother was brought over and after a small discussion the girl was taken away.

The next week, she showed up in a full body rash guard like the kind surfer's wear to protect them from chafing and the elements. Again, it covered her from chin to wrist to ankle and her hair was tucked into a swim cap. Her mother and what I presume were several aunties lined the bench nearby to cheer her on. As I splashed in the baby pool with my toddler (and my cute little swim shorts on thank you very much), I assumed all would be fine and went back to waving at my sons as they learned the hard way that Rescue Heroes Movie notwithstanding, you really can't magically produce scuba gear when you sink.

All was not well. After several minutes the lifeguard again pulled the girl out of the pool. Mom and aunties were called over. Then another lifeguard. Then the supervisor. The problem? Once the little girl, probably about 8 years old, jumped in the water, her all-white rash guard became transparent and the lifeguard realized that contrary to his instructions of the week prior, the girl still was not wearing a swimsuit underneath. I can only imagine the poor girl's embarrasment as her modesty was argued over. At last they took the discussion to the swim office and I was forced to mind my own business. The little girl never came back to swim class.

Scenario Two: Every time our Hip Hop Hustle class learns a new routine we videotape it and put it on YouTube. What can I say? We never grew out of the dance recital phase. YouTube nights are a lot of fun. We all dress up in whatever incarnation of suburban hip hop mommy we can put together, slap on some makeup, add a few dubious accessories (you should see Turbo Jennie's pimpin' fedora) and whip out the video camera.

Not wanting anyone to embarass themselves by association with us unless they are fully onboard with the hilarity, Turbo Jennie always announces right before we tape to give people the option to step out for a couple of minutes. Usually there are a few takers but that night I noticed something unusual about the group on the sideline. Save for one white woman who was there for the first night and didn't know the steps, every girl who stepped out of the frame was Muslim.

The next day I asked Gym Buddy Krista, who is Muslim and also used to my overly personal questions, what the deal was. Krista explained that in their religion it is not okay for women to dance for men or where men can watch. Exercise is okay as long as they keep appropriately covered, hijab included, but dancing and especially on YouTube where you have no control over who views it, is prohibited. She told me that the women were actually being rather daring by coming to Hip Hop at all since it was right on that dance/exercise line and there are usually two or three men in attendance (incidentally, the men are usually the best dancers in the room).

Our Y, similar to many other fitness establishments across the country with high Muslim populations (you wouldn't guess but Minneapolis has a large number of Somali immigrants, the majority of whom are Muslim), has adapted to this by instituting a "women's only" cardio class. The teacher must always be a woman - as Gym Buddy Bill discovered when he volunteered to sub the class one evening - and they hold the class in a closed studio with the windows curtained off and the door closed. In there, the women are free to dress as they choose and get their sweat on without having to worry about losing their headcovering.

It seems like a good compromise. And yet, as evidenced by the two scenarios listed above, it is not perfect. The women's class is only one hour one night a week. They have no access to the weight floor (and I can't imagine how they would since the weight floor is smack dab in the middle of the fitness area with nary a wall nor a door) nor do they have much variety. Obviously there are problems with what constitutes proper swimming attire.

Other gyms have tried different tactics. There are of course "female only" gyms like Curves. Krista tells me those aren't a good solution since the maintenance staff or managers are sometimes men and will walk in and out with no warning, causing the Muslim women in attendance to have to remain vigilantly covered "just in case." Other gyms, like the one at Harvard, set aside certain hours every day where the entire gym is off limits to men thereby allowing women of all religious (or not) persuasions to exercise in peace. And yet, that hardly seems fair to the men. Last I checked there are no "male only" classes or gym times. Not to mention that many people - including not only Muslims, but Hasidic Jews, conservative Christians and the entire demographic of people who have forgotten what it is like to be thirteen - take offense to a lot of gym music and shows airing on public gym televisions.

So where do you draw the line between discrimination and accomodation? Getting people to exercise is a difficult enough task but it seems even more complicated when you factor in religious beliefs. How much should different religions be catered to? Or should the comfort of a few be sacrificed so the rest of us can enjoy (is that the word I'm looking for?) the Britney Spears catalog in its entirety? Is there any place you know of that has gotten the balance right?

Comments

[txkayrose]

The YM**C**A is, according to its' stated mission, a Christian organization. They do not discriminate against the Muslim community as a whole - Muslims can join and are allowed full use of the facilities, provided they follow the common rules. If enough Muslim women were willing to commit to / request use of a specific area at a specific time, the Y might be willing to accomodate them.
Having a 'level of interest' requirement is not discrimination, if it is applied equally.
If there is a large enough Muslim community, perhaps they could create their own fitness / activity center. The Jewish communities have them in lots of cities. Like the YMCA, anyone can join, but they must abide by the community's rules, many of which are based on strict Jewish traditions.
The Muslims might be surprised how many non-Muslim women would be interested in a 'women only' area or schedule, where modesty was the standard.

[LisaMe]

Read this article. Contemplate the problem of the choice of people who want to exercise modestly. The "problem". Then skip over to the article at this site about how Hillary Clinton is a "prude" for dressing modestly, but how this is a great thing for her. How is being and dressing modestly for Hillary Clinton a laudable thing, but being and dressing modestly for a Muslim or a Christian or a Jewish person suddenly an overbearing religious issue? I'm not implying anything about atheists here, because there are those who claim to be religious or even agnostic who also have a "problem" with the modest people around them. If one is modest - whether they are religious or not - they are entitled to equal freedom of insult and equal time in the pool, for goodness' sake. Ee. Gads!

[benne]

I don't remember when this happened, but I was in a women's only event (perhaps a women's only water aerobics class?) years ago. I remember a Muslim family of women and girls coming in and happily disrobing down to modest swimsuits. I think many Muslims are allowed to be in such a state of undress as long as no men are around. I have no solution to this problem since I value co-ed time, including at the Y, but just wanted to add this fact.

[Freecelladdict]

Being a secular atheist I am being insulted on a regular basis by almost all religious people I encounter. And don't mean my views, I am being insulted personaly. Being non-religious seems to imply that *I* am the one being arrogant, closed-minded, amoral and overall ignorant. Somehow nobody is making too much of an effort to remedy that.

[Ben Dixon]

You can't please all of the people all of the time. Knowing this we should decide on a policy that will please the most people most of the time then. America, culturaly at its core, is about personal freedom and individual choice which is in direct conflict with Islam which restricts freedom of choice, espeically for women. There is nothing wrong with trying to accommodate someone's religious beleifes, but not at the expense of anothers.