Going to the gym as a woman can be a pretty stressful experience. Sure, there are plenty of people who are friendly enough to offer tips (especially if you’re a newcomer). And for the most part, people will typically leave you alone.
But some people out there are, to put it lightly, total creeps . Some women can experience the discomfort of being stared at for several minutes at a time, or even for their entire workouts.
It’s a problem for women all over the world.
Metro reports that as many as three-fifths of female gym-goers have experienced discomfort in the gym, while studies have shown that around three quarters of women in the U.K. feel uncomfortable going to the gym.
Oftentimes, the offending men will creep on women without their knowledge.
But in general, you can kind of feel when someone’s watching you.
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That’s why a TikTok user by the name of Emliy ( @emilywithanimals ) decided to post a video with a pretty neat trick.
The TikTok is titled, “This video is probably going to upset some men lol.”
In the TikTok, Emily stands in front of a green screen image of a man staring at her and says, “So if you ever have that feeling that there’s a creeper staring at you but you don’t want to actually look at them and risk making eye contact, I got a trick for you.”
In the next part of the video, Emily shows exactly what to do.
“Point your camera down low and just pretend you’re texting. Totally not suspicious,” Emily says, with her camera pointed down towards the feet of a man in the background.
“Without moving your phone, switch to wide angle.”
At this point, you see a man (Emily’s husband), standing in place behind her — not just his feet.
“And now you’ll be able to see their face, and whether or not they’re staring at you.”
The TikTok ends with Emily showing more shots of a gym creep she actually encountered.
And as you can see in the video, the man in question looks in Emily’s direction just a little too long for comfort.
Many commenters were grateful for the advice.
One commenter wrote, “I tried this, forgot my flash was on and BLINDED HIM – He never looked away so fast lol.”
Others asked more questions, like how exactly to change their cameras to wide lens.
Other commenters shared how they react when creepers stare at them.
“I always just straight up ask them if they have a problem,” one user said. “That’s what other men would do.”
Another said, “I pretend I’m taking selfies while the camera is actually pointed at them, never been caught.”
Some people… totally missed the point.
One commenter said, “So checking people out is a crime now.” Emily replied personally, saying, “I feel bad for the people you interact with if you don’t know the difference between checking out and 5 minutes of staring.”
But for the most part, people were pretty sad at the lengths women oftentimes have to go to in order to protect themselves.
“My gym solves this by having an entire extra, blocked off, gym only for women. It’s sad that it’s needed,” one commenter added.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
