There is simply no need to name gym classes in a way that can be (easily) interpreted as promoting violence against women. There is no justification. When there is so much violence against women, a so called pro-active women’s gym should be aiming to promote women’s rights, not create some smart pun which does the opposite. What’s wrong with gender neutrality in your class names? Would us women not “get it” without the stupid names?

Simply no need for this.

Hi Alex, thanks for the message. I totally understand the attempt at branding by way of the word ‘her’ but there are definitely better ways to do so, in my opinion. If you need help with new class names, I’d be happy to suggest some!

I’m not sure how the poll could be considered offensive as it’s just a way to see what everyone else thinks. It could even be a good tool for you to see what other people—in and out of the Pherform community—feel, as it would be a huge oversight to assume otherwise.

I’m glad that you support female empowerment, a movement which by no means excludes males, but as a man, that means trying to see things from a woman’s point of view. The words ‘Shred-her’ or ‘Blast-her’ sound particularly violent—especially when coming from a man.

I also feel that someone who is truly in support of empowering women should be a little more open to critique about any potentially offensive or derogatory terms to women, and take the necessary steps to change this.

Lastly, thank you for the invitation to the Dream Team classes. I have nothing against the name, obviously—but thanks for trying to undermine my opinion by implying that I get offended over everything. As a business owner, I really think you should be more careful with what you say in the public space.

I’m glad that you have this great initiative for helpers (and I’m not sure how you want me to ‘volunteer’), but perhaps instead of Dream Team, you might want to call the class “Help-her”…

You’re welcome.

Our class names are connected to the modality of training. As an editor, I am sure you understand the nuance and context of a branding exercise. To run a poll “Are Pherform class names offensive” is only offensive to the several hundred women who comprise our dynamic community and have never once considered our class names to be some kind of politicial/gender issue.

I am somewhat confused about your statement “Can it be any more obvious that Pherform was created by a guy?”. Are males excluded from a pursuit of female liberation and empowerment? Or am I guilty of an assumed gender bias by default of being a male?

As you seem quite passionate on both gender & fitness, I would love to welcome you to volunteer at Pherform Dream Team training – which is a free training service we provide several times per week for domestic helpers in Hong Kong. This service has been running for almost 4 years, and if you don’t find the “Dream Team” name as offensive as you do our classes, we can channel that passion and energy into sharing the gift of health & fitness with other women in Hong Kong who might not have the same resources as more fortunate folk like us.

Would love to discuss further with you – my personal email is: alex@pherform.com

Thank you

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com