By Brandon Patterson
Detroit Free Press
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) A Michigan gym is lifting the burden of inequality off of women — by lowering the price tag on their memberships.
Detroit Free Press
The Gym Lake Orion in Oxford, ran an ad on the front page of the local newspaper saying that they will be charging women two-thirds what they’re charging men for a membership “in the interest of fairness.”
“Ever wonder why XY>XX? WE DO! The Gym values its male members tremendously but we don’t value them a THIRD more than our female members!” the ad reads.
The ad goes on to read that women can join for $20 a month with no initiation fee.
The manager and operator of the gym, Rich Garvin, wants to even the playing field for women due to the pay disparity between men and women.
“It’s just difficult to observe injustice or unfairness,” said Garvin. “I think it’s important that we don’t sit idly by … if we do, we condone it. And I don’t condone it.”
Garvin also said he’s not raising anyone’s prices.
“You can get a $30 a month membership … having a discount, encouraging women to come in, in an attempt to make it a little easier for them to do so, I think is a good business practice and just the right thing to do.”
Heidi Weger, who’s been a member for about a decade, was on board with the change.
“Because it’s for a just cause, I’m all for it,” Weger said. “If it was just to bring more women in than the men, then no, I’m not for it.”
One man declined to comment, saying it was none of his business, but another said that it would be good to bring in more women to the gym.
