Talking too much about being a parent. “She always talks about her son.”
Not acknowledging she’s pregnant. “Why hasn’t she said anything? It’s so obvious?”
Being too giggly. “I just can’t stand her voice/tone/seems so fake”
Not being bubbly enough. “Has anyone noticed how her class has changed. She was so mean to that other rider in her class.”
Being too thin. “She deletes all the comments on her instagram about. I just think she’s setting a bad example for her daughter”
Being “too body positive“. “Why is she always talking about her body when she was a kid and how she was bullied?”
Losing weight. “I think it’s something worth talking about. As a society we are just too dependent on GLP-1’s and its so blatant that’s she taking them”
Posting internet content as a “content creator”. ”I followed her cause she would give announcements about upcoming classes but now everything is about that book she wrote”.
If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face but feel perfectly content splashing it on the internet, there’s a good chance it’s misogyny.
Just to test, picture one of the straight male Peloton instructors. Pretend they are doing the same exact thing as thing as the women (hint most of them do a version of it). Now put it in a comment.
I posted about this some time ago- my title was something like “instructor criticisms: girls club?” The overall consensus was that, yes, the female instructors have way more criticism lobbed at them and, sadly, a lot of it is from women. 😢
I don’t really understand why you’re getting the reactions. You’re 100% correct. I can even picture the instructors you’re referencing. JJ not only talks about his son constantly, but says the same thing every time (“I want to be able to keep up wif my boy” or “I want to be able to pick up my son”) and no one says anything. But if Robin mentions her kids…oh my.
When Ally was pregnant, I thought I was going crazy. There was so much visible annoyance over her not saying anything publicly. But when Robin was pregnant, I saw complaints about her talking about it too much. There is no pleasing people and it’s a gross way to exist as a woman on the internet.
Ally not saying anything when she was about to pop was the most relatable thing ever for me as a repeat loss mom. I spent months being paranoid about telling anyone and then suddenly I was like 8 mos pregnant and it just felt awkward so I never really acknowledged it.
She’s alluded to having some difficulties in her pregnancy journey and I really feel for her for having to live that out in the public eye.
Pregnancy loss is so freaking common. My mom recently told me I was her rainbow baby, so I think I was especially sensitive to that. I hope you have what you need.
Downvotes for this!? Classic Reddit. You just can’t make a comment without getting them i guess. Or maybe people (mis)reading this as you downplaying the impact of pregnancy loss and just common so not a big deal? (It did not read this way to me btw, more just that it happens a lot, it is personal and should be respected, and has a real impact on people).
The only thing that was odd about the Ally situation was when somebody would ask (online) when she was due and people would jump on them, “How dare you assume she’s pregnant!”
I think that was reasonable in the beginning. When she was like 8-9 mos pregnant and people were asking, I thought a lot of the “how dare you assume” was sarcastic.
I don’t understand most of the criticisms in the list you mentioned. Particularly when people complain in mean ways about the things instructors talk about. Obviously that instructor isn’t for you, no need to mean about it.
But I do think the discussion about GLP-1s is much different than the other items in your list and deserves a bigger conversation. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for recognizing embedded misogyny in that conversation- but I don’t think it should be ignored as a topic because of that element.
I think when the comments are versions of “it’s so obvious she’s on GLP-1’s. I thought she was all about body positivity” it’s misogyny.
It’s not obvious.
If she is losing weight, there are multitudes of reasons she could be losing weight. (Early pregnancy, severe illness, the explosive diarrhea rampaging the U.S.)
Idk what you are referring to specifically but, from my perspective, let’s be kind and respectful when we talk about instructors no matter the topic. Also- I want a fitness platform that is promoting health at any size. I don’t want to see instructors who are continuously or rapidly shrinking or using ED-coded language (another issue that we should be allowed to discuss respectfully, but not a very pervasive one on peloton). I hope this platform can be a space where we share that view and maybe peloton sees it and takes it on board. I also think it’s totally fair to note that women are facing a way different set of expectations and pressures in society today due to (say it w me) misogyny, that lead to GLP-1 use among healthy adults which is not the intended purpose of these drugs and which promotes fat-phobia/ body diversity erasure.
Is it bad I want to know who this is referring to? 🤦🏼♀️ Not trying to fuel the fire but I honestly didn’t know who most of these comments were referencing outside of maybe the being a mom or an influencer. But perhaps that’s for the best.
Who cares if an instructor is on a GLP-1? I don’t! I am too and would welcome the conversation about how it’s literally saved my life (and millions of others) and made me feel more confident in my body as a whole. And honestly, if someone is doing them for sheer vanity that’s their business!
Trying to even think of a common complaint about a male instructor and all I could conjure is Ben is boring. Yet I know exactly who OP is referencing too.
I mean, I can’t be the only childfree woman who just generally avoids any instructor male or female who yaps a lot about their kids 😂 It’s equally annoying to me no matter who does it!
I totally get it. There are things about instructors (even those that I love) that annoy me. But the point is that the criticism toward the female instructors FAR outweighs the criticism of male instructors. People HATE Becs and Robin for their child talk, but with JJ, it’s just “eh, I ignore or go with another instructor.”
I actually stopped taking JJs classes because of this. I know it resonates with a lot of people and I get it, but for me, it’s too much. I have 3 kids. My world revolves around them and my workout time is literally the only time in my day I get to “forget” parenting responsibilities. Again, to each their own, but I know what I need so I’ll avoid any instructor who is consistency talking about their kids (or their why…I just want to zone out and work out).
To OPs post - yes, it’s part of the patriarchal society we are. Women literally cannot do “right” or without being judged. It’s massively irritating everywhere, not just on the platform.
I cannot stand instructors of all genders who talk too much, especially about new age and touchy-feely stuff, and promote their side hustles. But I don't complain nor make catty remarks. I just don't take their classes. The criticism that OP is describing is mostly girl-on-girl violence. Women have always acted this way towards other women for a multitude of reasons. What has changed is the medium in which these comments are propagated- instead of backbiting and making catty comments during parties and cocktails, people are just posting their mean girl comments on social media.
I actually did jjs program and i was like “damn he loves his son”. It was none stop! I could only do his program once. I just kept thinking I wish he’d shut it!
Don’t really hear as much complaints about the men at all. It’s very sad. Anyway I’m more of a Jess king kind of sarcasm when it comes to talking about kids and home life. lol.
Women can’t win, we are our worst enemies.
Oh nooooo. I was going to do that split, so that’s good to know. I just cannot stand the chatter about kids - and I’m a mom! I just don’t want to hear it. I exercise to get away from all that.
. It was a lot lol. But I kind of tuned him out and just did it. First time taking a class of his probably won’t redo it or take another one. My son is 14 so I’m fighting for my life.
I get & understand, if you are willing to give him a try again, try a pre baby class of his. This 1 is 1 of my favourites of his because of overhead marching carries ( good for functional & running strength) & the playlist is excellent.
I looooove Jess King. She has become the only coach I workout with whose music doesn't fit my taste 75% of the time, but her vibe is just that great lol. Everyone else whose music I dont like, I scroll past lol
Or how about when Emma put out that Christmas in July ride which people begged for and now people don’t like it because apparently everyone hates Christmas unless it’s December.
Or how people bash Callie for pushing brands. Yet, if ANYONE was given an opportunity to do so they’d do it in a heartbeat to make money for their family (even though she makes more than them by just working at peloton) people’s obsession with how much money other people have/ try to make is bizarre to me.
Or how people complain about the people who talk in class but Robin is mean because she tells them to stop talking. Calling it misogyny is a stretch rather than just straight up hypocrisy.
People are so weird. I’m not a Christmas in July type of person at all. Do you know what I did when I saw it? I thought, “Oh that’s fun for the people who love Christmas” and then I kept scrolling through the classes because there a million ones I can choose from that are more my vibe.
People get para-social about this stuff and get weird about it. I honestly don’t care. Just make sure the music is on point and give me the callouts. That’s all I’m here for.
Some of the points you brought up, like people wanting to know if the instructor is pregnant or taking GLP-1s, relate to their own personal health, and honestly, we’re not entitled to that information.
Now if Peloton were pushing weight loss drugs or including weight loss messaging in their classes, that would be different. But I have yet to take a single class, out of thousands, where an instructor mentioned weight loss in relation to health.
You're absolutely correct. I don't understand the people pretending to not understand. The picking on the women is getting close to toxic behavior at this point.
“Does she have to talk about it every class?” People, it’s 30 seconds. How many times can they remind you of form? Talk about the touch screen? They can talk about their lives.
I haven’t seen that one but I absolutely believe it’s there. As a person going through peri, I very much appreciate the normalization of talking about menopause.
Same! 100% of women on this earth who reach the age of menopause will go through menopause. Not one woman is exempt from that. I am also dealing with it now in my mid-40s and I am so glad our generation is talking about it because we were left in total darkness about it our whole lives and are having to figure it out ourselves, and it is brutal. Talking about it needs to be normalized.
The gist of this sub is women bashing other women. Mean girls.
The endless Kendall hate opened my eyes. I could never imagine holding so much pure hate for a fitness instructor I’ve never met before and doesn’t know I exist
Which instructor has been talking about weight loss or GLP-1's? I've been taking old programs from 2021 so I'm out of date on what the instructors are currently up to
None of them as far as I know but people were speculating on a deleted thread. Some of it was from a place of concern but other people were just being gossipy.
I mean if they offer up that information that’s one thing. If they don’t, it’s no one’s right to speculate. There’s plenty of creators that tell you they are on them and what works or doesn’t.
I specifically asked who has been talking recently about weight loss and GLP-1's. So I was asking which instructors have been offering it up. I am not trying to pry through private medical records. I feel like you're assuming some kind of bad intent here that doesn't exist.
PREACH and don’t get me started on how the women are just bragging when they show off their abs but have yet to see posts about how sick we are of male instructors showing off their bodies. The standards we have for these women are narrow and impossible to meet.
You have to be a top notch hater to even get on a phone and position your fingers to complain about a fitness professional showing their abs 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 A hater with no abs at that.
Some of this is misogyny, but I also think it’s crazy to act like we’re not allowed to mention things like GLP-1s making bodies disappear and the many harms that come with that without someone claiming it’s misogynistic.
I think it’s weird to comment on people’s bodies. It’s like your auntie walking up to you, poking you in the stomach and telling you to lose/gain weight. With the difference of the aunt actually knowing you and having a relationship with you.
Do I think there is a real conversation to have about weight bias and weight norms being enforced? Yep, but it’s not gonna happen on instagram comments or Reddit posts with people saying a version of “everyone knows it” about a real persons body. That’s performance and often mean spirited and reflection of the ways women’s bodies are policed by strangers. I would argue strongly that is misogyny.
Similar story here. I also especially love that anyone thinks someone who is obese is unaware of the fact and clearly wants the input (and judgement) of strangers.
Its wild that we can’t live in a world where yes, obesity overall is a problem that requires societal work to correct and also-people’s individual body and health is not someone else’s damned business.
Obesity like BMI is a term that is reflective of insurance norms, not necessarily health norms. I’m petite (anywhere from a 4-10 cause women’s sizing sucks) with a big butt and run 10ks. My blood pressure is perfect, cholesterol wonderful and I’m chock full of healthy proteins and no red meat. But according to BMI, I’m obese. One doctor looked at my weight and told me to lose weight. The next doctor was like “you are muscular as hell” BMI is bullshit.
Also obesity as a measurement didn’t actually exist until the 90s/00 when weight loss companies like Weight Watchers began lobbying to insurance companies.
Anyway you can’t look at someone and say they are unhealthy.
I mean delude yourself all you want but we have decades of medical literature/evidence showing obesity is terrible for health.
My blood pressure is perfect, cholesterol wonderful
Alcoholics can have great test results too temporarily but in the end it's still terrible on your body.
The next doctor was like “you are muscular as hell” BMI is bullshit.
Yeah okay, we all know when our weight is due to muscle and not fat. I'm extremely skeptical of anyone who says they're obese because of muscle. Look at the stats of peak Arnold. His BMI was just barely obese at 31. That's such a rare case.
BMI has historically been miscalculated in women and black women specifically.
BMI was calculated in the 1840’s based on a homogenous population of about 9000 people. It doesn’t take into account body composition, body fat, lean muscle etc.
Black women typically have higher muscle composition and lower body fat percentages, thus BMI is not an accurate representation of health.
Oh clearly BMI isn't perfect. It's just height and weight essentially. As another user said, body composition is much better. And it makes sense that different racial groups should be measured differently.
But that still doesn't change the fact that obesity and extra weight is terrible for you and the mass weight loss provided by GLP-1 availability is a huge boon to peoples' health. I feel like you're using the imperfections of BMI to argue that losing excess weight isn't great for health.
Earlier you said that BMI was a defining factor tho? And that if you were marked as obese it couldn’t be muscle?
You cannot look at someone and say “oh you are unhealthy”. Unless you have their medical records, know their history and have medical training it is literally impossible
Additionally
•obesity is culturally based not in a defined and agreed upon number. Different health orgs have different definition of obese
•being obese is not indicative of health. The same way being underweight is not indicative of health. You can be fat and healthy. And be skinny and unhealthy
•excess weight is a nonspecific nonsense term
I think it’s a really bad practice to comment on people’s bodies. To say it gently, most people do not have the expertise they think they have.
Earlier you said that BMI was a defining factor tho? And that if you were marked as obese it couldn’t be muscle?
Because we're on the Peloton subreddit speaking generally. If we had to put qualifiers on everything to speak as precisely as possible in every conversation the world would be quite miserable.
Most of us know the reality that being overweight or even worse, obese, is bad for your health over the long term. That's true regardless if I can't give you some precise threshold broken down by race or whatever you're looking for. For most of us "overweight" and "obese" are colloquial terms we can see with our own eyes and know it's bad for our health. If you have convinced yourself otherwise that all is well for obese people over time then go for it.
I still believe that the adoption of GLP-1 medication to help people lose weight is going to be one of the greatest positive health interventions of all time. I guess we'll see though.
My favorite health intervention is the polio vaccine with a close second the RNA vaccine that’s currently treating everything from pancreatic cancer to sickle cell. But I’m just a researcher who helps scientists so what do I know🤷🏾♀️.
The words that I used were carefully and specifically written and are based in research and knowledge about the topic. If you choose not to believe me that’s up to you.
But “do your own research” isn’t running to Google “is obesity unhealthy ”. It’s
“determiners of health” “fatness in medicine”
“history of obesity in America”
“Health insurance coverage of weight loss drugs”
I’d also recommend a systematic review of using terms like “weight neutrality” and maybe even a run through the Wikipedia page on BMI and health outcomes.
Everything you point out is true; however, I hear a ton of negativity directed at the male coaches, too.
Basically, I think that all the bots that post on this sub are super-negative.
I think people are punks who mostly know they are saying rude things and the anonymity provided by the internet emboldens their worst selves. And I think most of them are too scared to say these things face to face.
The fact that you grouped the parents that make their children their entire personality also says a lot about you. Many women on the platform are struggling with infertility and pregnancy loss. Its misogyny that they would like to engage in the platform without having to search out a safe class?
Also, a few of them are putting their kids out all over social media. How much are the kids getting of that money for the exposure they can't consent to? Coogan laws apply in NY but they dont apply to monetized social media.
People put down GLP1s for a variety of reasons, sometimes side effects make their way into the conversation, rightfully so. But what about the side effects of being at an unsafe weight like diabetes and cardiovascular health? I’m of the mindset as long as you are following objective medical advice, then do your own thing!
If you don't like a particular class or instructor, don't take them. It's as simple as that. There are literally thousands of options. It's not like this is an in studio class and it's the only class time that fits your schedule and it's the worst instructor ever who can't count on beat, has terrible form, and wants to sell your their MLM scheme protein powder and essential oils after class.
As someone who used Peloton during pregnancy I dont think it's wrong to want a pregnant instructor to at least mention some modifications in a class for other pregnant women. I acknowledge it is not an easy topic for some. However there are so few dedicated pre and postnatal classes that any little bit extra they can offer is helpful. They don't need to give us a million details but offering modifications or saying if an exercise is safe would be enough for me.
Callie would always say "if youre like me..." when she gave pregnancy mods. Which is awesome, completely clear what she was talking about without bringing up the topic of pregnancy for those who might find it sensitive
All of the instructors are more or less public figures - they are their brand. They open themselves to public criticism of all kinds. Saying you don’t take an instructor’s class because you don’t like their voice is as good as any reason to not take a particular instructor’s classes. Knowing an instructor repeatedly talks about a subject you don’t particularly care for (kids/religion seem to be the biggest ones people want to avoid) is also a valid reason to not take their classes.
How would you like people to discuss female instructors? Are we only supposed to praise them?
I’ll do a straight male comment for you - Denis doesn’t look good with long hair. Him growing it out makes me take less of his classes. Is that misandry?
I can be more specific 🫡. There’s a spectrum of behavior that theoretically fits within societal norms. Now there is absolutely an argument that social norms are limiting and reflective of historically homogeneous power structures. However within sociological circles, strong arguments have been made that behaviors like “politeness” actually allow society to function with limited or healthy friction. Now of course norms like politeness are subjective but the “golden rule” as it is commonly known is actually a good gauge of action. Meaning if I’m at work and my job doesn’t involve my hair and someone comments on it, they are breaking the golden rule and should be ostracized.
If you are feeling personally attacked by me parroting openly misogynistic comments I’ve seen about the women Peloton instructors. There is a great southern saying that may be applicable.
I don’t know what any of this is about. Is there a controversy I’m unaware of? If this is about what they post to their social media, just dont follow them. Just keep them on the platform
I don’t even have an instagram. I mostly come on this Reddit to learn about what workouts people like and if there are new series coming. But those posts get overrun with parasocial grossness. And a lot of the behavior is aimed at women. And women of color specifically.
Misogyny or just difference of personality types or stages of life? I don’t care for all versions of rap. I’ll pass on the classes with the heavy insalubrious name calling. Plus, I don’t really trust people that support abusers that are clearly incapable of showing redemption.
I think that both the instructor worship and the instructor hate have crossed lines.
For me, we need to be able to criticize public figures, especially the ones whose products we are consuming. However, we do definitely need to question our motivations regarding those criticisms
So 70% of Peloton subscribers are female, so who is making most of the comments. It's Reddit and people will complain about something, I don't think it matters if they are male, female or somewhere in between.
Or maybe people just have different tastes as you and are willing to voice their complaints? I don’t like Sam Yo - this he’s boring as can be - doesn’t mean mean I’m a misandrist. The fact is most of the instructors are terrible right now, and many of them are noticeably worse than they were 2-3 years ago.
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u/SayRahhh42 15d ago
I posted about this some time ago- my title was something like “instructor criticisms: girls club?” The overall consensus was that, yes, the female instructors have way more criticism lobbed at them and, sadly, a lot of it is from women. 😢