Complying with Muslim students' request, one Harvard gym provides female-only hours

Colleges & Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>" Also, its part of the religion, and by doing this, they maintain their honor, isn’t the US the place where you can pray as you please? " </p>

<p>It is my understanding that these women want to go to the gym to work out, not pray. No one is trying to take away their rights to practice their religeon, but in fact they are imposing their religeon on the students and their rights to work out when they want to.</p>

<p>There are a lot of women that prefer to work out when there are few men around, but not because the men are ogling their bodies. Why not just join a womens only facility , as many choose to do ? . Think " Curves " or other women only establishments..they are everywhere.
What’s next ?
And one of the wonderful things about the USA is our ability to speak our minds. Just because one does not agree with Harvard’s altering their gym policy , does not make them racist, or intolerant.
Assimilation to one’s surroundings is part of becoming part of the society, not demanding society change for you .</p>

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<p>“I think that you should all picket in front of one of Harvard’s dining halls and demand that they stop offering kosher options for Jewish students.”
When they offer kosher options do they not serve any other food - does this impact other students in any way? I don’t think so.</p>

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<p>It’s so easy just to label people as racist when you don’t agree with them. Binghamtomrocks, what would you have said if these 6 women (I would call that miniscule) were fundamentalist christians? orthodox jews?
I think you would have protested that they were reactionary neanderthals.</p>

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<p>Correct, they offer other food options…much in the same way that they are offering an abundance of opportunities to work out in a co-ed environment if one so chooses</p>

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<p>I don’t understand what the big deal is with this. Tons of religions get accomodations, tons of schools have kosher options. so why dont people just say “you live in america, eat pork and deal with it”. because it is insensitive. I don’t think it really matters if men arent allowed in a certain gym for a few hours a week. Who really cares, they aren’t hurting anybody, just as jewish people arent hurting anybody when the cafetaria offers kosher. It is all about options people. This is not something mandatory, there are other gyms. I think people are freaking out because the issue deals with muslims. I cannot help but see there is a hint of racism in this. Everyone knows nothing would be said if the same thing was done for a christian or jewish group. Why is there a double standard.</p>

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<p>

It has nothing to do with the actual gym. It’s the reasoning behind it and the possible ramifications that people are upset about, and rightfully so.</p>

<p>

That would be an admirable thing to do. I would support anyone who did it.</p>

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<p>men can work out at other gyms at the same time, what is the problem.</p>

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<p>guys this is so stupid. there are two valid opinions in this thread.</p>

<p>support:
it’s there religion etc.</p>

<p>against:
their religion is infringing upon the rights of others.</p>

<p>people who support/believe that they are practicing their religion:
do you agree that their practicing their religion is infringing upon the rights of others? if so, why should this practice be allowed to stand?</p>

<p>lastly, i don’t really think that this is about girls feeling uncomfortable working out in front of guys; i think that this is just a perk for them.</p>

<p>EDIT:

none of those accomodations directly affect others who do not share those particular beliefs. and i really don’t think there is much racism going on in this thread. besides, “Muslim” isn’t even a race; it’s a religion.</p>

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<p>I still don’t understand why everyone is freaking out. Other religious groups even get their own buildings on campus, there are plenty of churches and a Hillel building. Should the muslims protest those buildings because not all groups get a special building. NO. Could those buildings be used for something else, yes. I really think people here are being ridiculous and having a double standard. What happened to America, the country of freedom.</p>

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<p>Muslims and Jews do not eat pork.
LDS do not drink alcohol and caffeinated drinks.
Hesidic ( sp ? ) and other conservative Jews do not let their women touch other men ( handshake even )
Why is it that you don’t see any other people who are serious about practicing their faith placing demands on Harvard or other instituted of higher learning to eliminate the things that offend them ?</p>

<p>I am willing to bet that there are several students that object to some mainstream policies of their schools, but find ways to avoid situations that are not acceptable to their lifestyles , without demanding that the schools conform to their expectations..Adapting, not demanding .
My point is what’s next ?
Do blind students have to give up their seeing eye dogs because of Muslim’s disdain for dogs ? Should the female professors wear hijabs as to not tempt Muslims men with their hair and wrists ?</p>

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<p>how is this infringing on the rights of others, i just don’t see it. Someone else getting an accomodation is hurting others? So is the kosher food option hurting other students because they arent spending more time making “regular” food. What is there was a Halal food option? I believe people would say the same thing they are about the gym. People would freak out over a halal food option, just as they are about the gym. And by the way, a few hours at the gym is a much smaller change than having an entire different food option available, and takes more resources. Why aren’t people against the kosher option? because there is nothing wrong with it, as there is nothing wrong with the gym accomodation. There is clearly a double standard. People need to calm down and stop criticizing other people for no reason. This is dumb. These people should spend their time on a more worthy cause like ending poverty in the world.</p>

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<p>“There are a lot of women that prefer to work out when there are few men around, but not because the men are ogling their bodies. Why not just join a womens only facility , as many choose to do ? . Think " Curves " or other women only establishments..they are everywhere.”</p>

<p>They are HARVARD students who would like to use HARVARD facilities. This is just HARVARD responding to HARVARD students. Just b/c they’re Muslim, does not mean they are insignificant. </p>

<p>“Assimilation to one’s surroundings is part of becoming part of the society, not demanding society change for you .”</p>

<p>GREAT POINT. However, there is nothing wrong with affording these ladies six hours per week. Now, you may want to go about provinding service for these ladies in different methods, maybe designated rooms, instead of specified hours. These ladies are not proposing something outrageous.</p>

<p>“What’s next” = Slippery Slope. </p>

<p>lje62L: you make a fair and respectable point and I would not label you a racist.</p>

<p>However, you CANNOT deny that most of those opposing this act founded their reasons on racist principles. See my previous posts for evidence of that. </p>

<p>To razorsharp: “Are you suggesting that sexism should be tolerated even though racism should not be tolderated?”</p>

<p>No I am not. I am suggesting that you could make the “argument” that this is sexist (I do not believe so), but saying that this is racist is just crazy. </p>

<p>“Non-Muslim Harvard students ought to be entering into the gym during muslim hours and staying there until they are arrested. The civil rights movement would be alive and well if that happened.” </p>

<p>First off these are not “Muslim hours”, these are lady hours..so there goes that argument. Second, the idea to equate the REAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT with this supposed one is just ridiculous. Yeah, like these HARVARD students hose done anyone who does not comply with these “racist” gym rules..hahaha. </p>

<p>With regards to the sexism comment. Unless, it is directly imposing on one’s acceptance/advancement in society, then it is not sexism. This is not doing that to men.</p>

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<p>why not object to vegatarian food ?
Having special food should not be an issue as long as you are not forced to eat it. Not like anyone is demanding that no one eat meat or pork when others choose to be vegan.
Anyone imposing their lifestyles and beliefs on others is wrong, whether based on religeon, allergies, moral beliefs, etc, etc.</p>

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<p>this accomodation is minor, i dont understand people freaking out. The fact is, they are not asking what the above post(lge62) is suggesting. That is exaggeration and extrapolation, a logical fallacy. I don’t think not being able to work out a certain gym at a certain small time frame is that big of a deal, especially since there are other gyms. So lge62, are you against kosher or halal meal options then, because according to your logic we should be. According to your logic there should be no school sponsored chapel, Hillel, or other religious groups(which are clearly very costly, the money should go to education shouldnt, not for the religious needs of students…). If not, then you are supporting a double standard, which is not fair, and therefore unjust.</p>

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<p>“Do blind students have to give up their seeing eye dogs because of Muslim’s disdain for dogs ? Should the female professors wear hijabs as to not tempt Muslims men with their hair and wrists ?”</p>

<p>And by the way, Muslims do not view dogs as disdainful. They would readily support a seeing eye dog; in fact and I am not kidding, I have an older Muslim friend who is blind and uses a seeing eye dog. I believe (not sure, if I heard her correctly), dogs are simply not allowed inside the house.</p>

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<p>so what if it is women only, maybe some conservative christians would like to excercise with only women around. would you all be against that. I think many of the people on this board and the media have blown this out of proportion. It only made the news because it dealt with muslims.</p>

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<p>lje62, no one is forcing you to do anything. what if a another group reserved the gym, or there was a game. you obviously could not enter and demand to use the gym. there are other gyms, so no one is preventing you from not working out. Once again, I feel this is only an issue because it deals with muslims, so thus there is a hint of racism, even if many of you refuse to acknowledge it. There is a clear distinction in this situation because it deals with muslims. I assure you that if a group of random girls wanted to work out in the gym alone, and wanted a ladies only time, and there was no religion attached to it, no one would care at all. There is clearly a problem here because the girls are muslim and people need to acknowledge that.</p>

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<p>So is it sexist to have women only bathrooms razorsharp?</p>

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<p>I think the problem is, jkjkjkj, that they actually do acknowledge that it is racism. The way that they blatantly refer to Muslims so negatively cannot suggest otherwise. jkjkjkj, I think all we can do is try to educate the ill-minded as much as we can, but unfortunately we cannot stop them from voicing their opinions no matter how evil, no matter how racist.</p>

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<p>What about gender-segregated dorms? or Athletics?</p>