Sometimes I wonder in which direction this country is moving, socially. On one hand, we have the first-ever Black and female presidential candidates in our nation's history. Whereas I see this as a byproduct of a still-divided society that wants to feel more warm and fuzzies than it realistically has to offer, it is still a step forward and away from wrinkly old White ball-sack rule. So, that's good. A well-played game of emo-political chess, but good in some ways nonetheless....right?
On the other hand, we still have establishments like Planet Fitness. As for what direction they are moving within society, I guess it just depends on who you ask. I just joined this place a couple of days ago, after hearing from several people, "It's only ten bucks a month". A relatively unassuming, no-frills kind of place, PF sits in the corner lot off of Indianola where Gold's Gym used to live. It's clean. It's new. It's got a color theme. Save for the racist dress code, it's the perfect place to work out if you don't work out too hard. You know, or if you're not too Black or anything.
Racist dress code? (See item PF285 and corresponding review) What good is disallowing do-rags and bandannas other than to single out ethnic groups? Do-rags and skull caps, while attributed to certain groups more than others, do serve an athletic function and seemingly should be allowed in an athletic establishment. How else can their explicit ban be justified? Should bald people just wear a towel on their head to prevent sweat from getting in their eyes?
Being the good American consumerist, I did a little bit of research on PF after a few internal environmental aspects struck me as, well, a bit 'off'. Not so much in an Andy Dick type way, but more in a Karl Rove way. Surprisingly, the gym --despite its squeaky-clean color themes and brand-new equipment--boasted only a two-star rating on epinions.com. How could this be?
Delving a bit deeper, I started reading some of the reviews at length. In a word: disturbing.
Granted, this guy's username suggests that we probably wouldn't get along anyway, but I found his review to be only slightly emotionally charged and also very thorough and thought-provoking. He makes a couple good points as to the argument that PF is discriminatory in its practices. Just like everyone knows all the whores are in Delta Zeta without it being explicitly so, I don't want to unknowingly belong to some underground racist White people's gym without knowing it.
Several others on the site cited billing issues, or staff problems as the reason for their below average ratings. Then there is the grunting issue.
At first, I thought the grunting policy was a joke because I could not possibly see how this can actually be enforced as a policy. In summary, there is an alarm and corresponding blue flashing light (think K-mart) that the manager can sound if he or she feels someone is being judgemental or is grunting or dropping weights (See account here) and thus intimidating the other gym members. From what I have read, the manager then comes over to the 'grunter' and explains to them how this practice is not permitted. I just cannot wrap my brain around that. When I tore my ACL, I am sure I grunted. If I should happen to re-aggravate it whilst doing the leg press, instead of getting offered an ice-pack out of athletic sympathy, I would instead activate a douchebag buzzer and be singled out in front of my entire gym? Unacceptable.
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