A New York Times blog post last week launched a firestorm, especially in the CrossFit community. The piece, titled “Why Women Can’t Do Pull-Ups,” generated 507 online comments and a ton of “oh watch this” videos in the CrossFit community.
Are pull-ups tough? Yes.
Does it take work to master pull-ups? Yes.
Might a woman have to work a little harder to master pull-ups because she doesn’t have the same natural upper body strength as a man? Maybe.
Is it impossible for women to do pull-ups. No, not at all. Absolutely not.
It’s taken me more than two years to do a pull-up on my own without the assistance of a band. I can do three in row. I’m working my way up to five and eventually 10.
It’s quite possible the headline was selected to get people fired up (it worked) and to spark debate (it did). But I also found it offensive and sexist. Once again, women are told they can’t do ________.
I’m pretty sure I recently watched a whole team of women take home Olympic medals for swinging themselves around (pull-up) bars just as well as the men did. Watch the CrossFit Games to see some of the fittest women on the planet do pull-ups, muscle-ups and a whole lot more. Come to my CrossFit facility to see women kicking butt on the pull-up bar.
Not only was I offended for myself specifically and for women in general, but as the mother of a 4-year-old girl, I would never tell her she couldn’t do pull-ups because she’s a girl. And don’t you dare tell her that either.