[Women fighting & training - how do you feel, similarities and differences with men.]

Apologies this might be slightly off topic. Not a coach, but a woman in a male space, and I reacted to this by Sylvie:

and disgusted with myself for having an automatic sense of competitiveness. Not competitiveness in the sporting sense, like how men might get to enjoy having a spar to see who's slicker, but competitiveness in the "there are limited social resources here and I now have to protect my hard-earned position" kind of competitiveness.Which is shit. Which is why you get women throwing each other under the bus to be teacher's-pet, or creating cliques when there are only 3 of us, or not being supportive despite there only being fucking 2 of us.

I completely understand where this is coming from, usually spots for women are limited and we all have to compete for that one spot above the glass ceiling. But I also find it unfair. I'm sorry to say, but not all women in a muay thai gyms are cool. There are various types, the hard worker, the one who flirts to get some teaching from the male trainer (no judgement it's an effective strategy), the super hard tough girl who talks to no one and will kick the shit out of your shins (understanding her too) or the "know it all" etc etc. The point is, usually guys have the luxury of having ten other guys as training partners to relate to and train with. Finding their favorite or the asshole they cannot stand. But as a woman you're expected to instantly connect with that other woman who shows up and if she's not cool, you're not being a good "sister". And that sucks. And it's simply the result from having too few other women to train with. And to me that's the most limiting factor being a woman training muay thai. The longing for a female partner to compete with and learn from and then handling the disappointment when she turns out to be not so cool. And that whole pressure of having to get along with a fellow muay ying and to not appear like that woman who likes to be the only woman in a male space.  

[Thai muay thai gym dress code for women]

Thanks so much for sharing your views. I was not aware of the development in Chiang Mai. I guess it is a positive thing, however, if space is made for women but on the condition it is to also please the male gaze I guess well it is a half victory. Peuh. I fought against a Thai girl who had exactly that kind of top you mention, no sleeves and shows part of the stomach. I find it very pretty J.

I do not necessarily need to train without a shirt, especially considering my gym is not the cleanest ever, but the annoying thing is wearing a sweat-soaked shirt so I have to bring several and so on. But it is mainly the feeling of not being free to do what guys can do that annoys me.

There is also this thing where different body types are being sexualised to different degrees. A skinny, non-curvy body might not catch much attention whereas the a bit chubbier busty ones will do. I am pretty muscular and although definitely female in West not so much in Thailand and probably the guys won’t care that much. But I am already hyper aware of all the other things that makes me different that it just feels unnecessary to add to it.

But I feel that this is definitely a case of self-censoring. So I would therefore never advise a visitor who is only temporary there about how her outfit might be perceived as it would probably only feel like shaming, she would get annoyed, and if she is only at the gym for a brief period of time she would not notice anything either. But at the same time I would hate for thai men in these more conservative gyms to start thinking all western (because it is mainly western) gir;s are easy or skimpy or whatever, when they do not even consider their outfit or why it would be inappropriate. I have noticed that most Japanese, Korean and Chinese women will wear tights but always shorts on top of tights. It took me a while to figure out why, but I guess to make them less revealing…(this is all very anecdotal of course). 

[Thai muay thai gym dress code for women]

55 minutes ago, Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu said:

give me a minute, we'll look into the Women's Only access problem.

Thanks so much I am in :)!

[Thai muay thai gym dress code for women]

Btw well aware this might be a topic for the women's roundtable, but despite several emails I get no access to it. Which also mean I cannot tell whether this has already been discussed or not. I also believe this is a topic men should be able to have access to and learn from as most of the times, men are so blissfully unaware of shit women have to deal with. 

[Thai muay thai gym dress code for women]

I wonder how people feel about gendered dress codes in Thai muay thai gyms?.As a resident in Thailand I've been to several gyms, both more fitness inspired and fight camps focused on foreign customer and fight gyms focusing on Thai fighters. In my experience there is definitely a much more tolerant attitude towards women training in tights, sports-bras, hot pants etc in any kind of gym where the foreigner is the main customer. But, as pointed out many times before by Sylvie, fighter gyms focused on the Thai fighter seem to have an unspoken dress code when it comes to women. It's this Thai thing where no one says anything, but you just feel it.

My approach has always been to err on the safe side until I figure things out. Especially at my current gym which focuses on its Thai stadium fighters and foreigners are a side-business. ...and there are barely any other women training there. 

However, the gym gets a lot of temporary visitors and many times Western women who train in sports-bra and/or no undershorts etc. I can feel there is some sort of reaction towards it among the trainers and fighters, but usually the women themselves cannot be bothered (which I sort of envy).   

The thing is, I think these unspoken dress code rules are stupid and limiting and even though I do not want to lead the sports bra revolt, I am kind of grateful for when visitors come and DGAF. As I hope this will mean that tolerance will grow and at one point this is not at all a thing anymore. I also would feel so shitty telling another woman how to dress based on my perception of what I think is ok. 

I am interested in hearing other people's experience about these things. Do you care at all? Would you advise visitors how to dress?