AL JIZAH, Egypt – A Gold's Gym overseas has apologized for several Facebook posts that many are calling fat shaming.
Gold's Gym Dreamland in Egypt, an independent franchise, shared a photo on Aug. 12 showing a pear with the text, "This is no shape for a girl."
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The gym posted the apology in the post saying in part, "This post was not meant to offend anyone, and not against god's creation, or any time of women's body, it was meant to refer to a Healthy less fats body, not the actual shape structure of the body."
The apology was apparently too little, too late. Thousands of people shared the post and many are angry.
"Actually, it is. Now give me one good reason why I should go to a gym that bullies girls, instead of gyms that actually encourages me to workout," Ashley Joyce-Nyack wrote.
"Well I was a member of Gold's but looks like I need to find a gym that doesn't body shame and degrade women for their appearance," Tori Lynn Jessop said.
This is the gym's most recent post stirring controversy. The gym has posted similar body-shaming photos previously.
On Aug. 10, the gym shared a photo of a woman posing next to a horse with the text, "What you leave out of messenger, put it into Gold's Gym." The woman's face in the photo is cropped and was replaced to show a different woman's face.
Another post on July 19 shows a man unzipping his skin to reveal a more muscular physique with the caption, "Take it off..." Days later, the gym shared a similar post with a woman's body.
"Gym are awesome places where people go to better themselves, train, burn off steam or just feel good about themselves. Shame on you for turning something that's supposed to be awesome into a place for elitism and bullying," Alana Leilani Connolly wrote in the reviews section on the Facebook page. "Grow up, and learn that proper marketing doesn't involve alienating multiple target audiences with insults."
"Someone should be fired. Who thought that was a good idea?" Andy Brill wrote.
As of Tuesday, the posts have not been removed and people continue to bash the gym.