Porn star claims man’s gym act is proof women aren’t safe in 2024
A young woman has posted a video of a man interrupting her gym session, claiming it is proof “women aren’t safe in 2024”.
Adult content creator Madi Ruvee was filming herself performing a “pulse squat” at the gym with a medicine ball when a man approached her.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She explained she was doing a leg warm-up, but he disagreed, saying: “I know what you’re doing”.
The stranger told Ms. Ruvee, a popular porn star who charges fans $US11 (about AUD $17) to view her explicit content, that she was an example of what is “wrong with girls”.
He also added that she should keep this kind of behavior “online”, branding it “ridiculous”.
It is unclear why Ms Ruvee was filming herself, but social media users have speculated that she may have been creating content for her X-rated subscription.
In the clip, Ms Ruvee appears to be visibly shocked by the confrontation, responding to the man, “Are you pointing at me?”
He then appears to kick her phone as he walks away, smashing the screen.
The racy content creator posted the exchange online, which has amassed millions of views on TikTok, and she said she couldn’t believe she was shamed for innocently stretching at the gym.
She also asked her followers if they thought the behavior was fair and said that just because she’s a sex worker doesn’t mean she wasn’t simply exercising.
“I can’t believe I’m not allowed to stretch at the gym because of what I do for work,” she shared on Instagram.
The conversation online quickly turned into people debating Ms. Ruvee’s gym technique and whether he was in the right for interrupting her.
Someone said his behavior was 100 percent valid because she wasn’t stretching correctly, and others argued that while her moves may have looked provocative to some, she was just doing pulse squats.
“I work at a gym and have never seen anyone do what you were doing,” one wrote.
“Looks nothing like pulse squats,” another commented.
There was more online conversation about what she was filming the gym content for than the man’s behavior.
Some people were even saying that her gym stretches were purposefully sexual and, therefore, he had a right to intervene.
Someone went so far as to comment that the stranger who interrupted her was a prime example of a “real” man.
The secondary conversation online revolved around people arguing that filming at your gym should be banned.
It has become increasingly common to see people filming themselves at the gym following the success of TikTok and Instagram.
Suddenly, mundane public spaces like gyms have become places for people to create content.
“Why are cameras allowed at the gym?” one questioned.
“Ban video recording in gyms!!” another demanded.
“Cameras should be banned, and she should 100 percent be banned forever,” another shared.
Ms. Ruvee replied to the outcry online and pointed out that she should be able to stretch at the gym without being told off.
“Before I started OnlyFans I was doing the same stretch before every leg day,” she said in a follow-up TikTok video.
“And all the people saying that I deserve to have my phone kicked, I deserve to be harassed in public because I was minding my business in the smallest corner of the gym … is there a rule that says no phones? No there’s not. Was it on a tripod? Was I being obnoxious? No, I wasn’t. Was I being loud? No. So it’s really sad to me to see all these comments saying that I deserve something because I went to the gym and was stretching.”
Ms. Ruvee also speculated that the stranger already knew who she was and that “made him angry”.
Regardless of what side of the debate you fall, data shows women regularly feel unsafe in gyms due to unwanted attention from males.
Almost 56 percent of women have faced harassment during their workouts, a survey from Run Repeat found in 2022.
While in a separate study, a staggering 69 percent of women admitted they do not feel safe or adjust their behavior when receiving unwanted attention from men while exercising.
However, 92 percent of harassment cases in the gym go unreported.
