FITNESS influencer Niamh Cullen has defended female gym wear after a leading American comedian’s joke about women dressing like ‘wh***s’ sparked a global backlash.
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women → defend → backlash
The Dublin woman also spoke of the importance of her close friendships with fellow ‘geriatric’ influencers James Kavanagh and Louise Cooney in the ‘quite lonely’ world they inhabit.
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they → speak → world
On last weekend’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) – the long-running US sketch show – guest presenter Shane Gillis said in his opening monologue that women now dress like ‘wh***s’ in the gym, referencing the skin-tight shorts currently in vogue.
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women → run → vogue
Fitness influencer Niamh Cullen has defended female gym wear after a leading American comedian’s joke about women dressing like ‘wh***s’ sparked a global backlash
The comments made headlines around the world owing to Gillis’ huge profile, with many women instructing the not-particularly-in-shape comedian where to go.
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women → defend → comedian
Cullen has not seen the monologue but said she has read comments from other men online ‘giving out about women in their sports bra and shorts’.
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she → see → bra
And she told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I completely disagree with it.
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I → tell → it
It’s OK for men to go around topless and do their thing, but God forbid a woman wants to just wear a pair of shorts and sports bra in the gym...
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woman → ’ → gym
I don’t see it as any different.’
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I → see → it
The fitness fanatic continued: ‘I just think it’s such misogyny when it comes down to things like that.
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it → continue → that
I’ve seen people on TikTok giving out about women in their shorts and their bras – the same men that will pose topless in a gym [for a selfie] and be lifting weights in their tiny tank tops.’
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that → see → tops
She speculated the disapproval could be a ‘generational’ thing stemming from ‘how women have been placed in society for years’ and said we are ‘going back in time’ if men are policing women’s clothing.
And if views around gym wear are regressive, Cullen stressed there have been great strides made in women’s fitness in general since she did her transition year work experience in a gym.
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she → speculate → gym
Cullen speculated the disapproval could be a ‘generational’ thing stemming from ‘how women have been placed in society for years’ and said we are ‘going back in time’ if men are policing women’s clothing
‘
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men → speculate → clothing
I used to see very few women there.
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I → use → women
Even when I first started going to more strength and conditioning-based classes when I was about 18, predominantly the classes would be men.
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classes → start → classes
‘But now women are just killing it in terms of the strength training.
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women → kill → training
‘It’s fantastic to see, and these are just normal women who wouldn’t always have had a fitness background, or been brought up with fitness.
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who → ’ → fitness
It was with gym workouts that Cullen took her first steps into the influencer world, alongside insights into her former job as a personal shopper.
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Cullen → take → shopper
Less than a decade later, she has grown her following to over a quarter of a million people across social media.
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she → grow → media
Doing similar viewing figures are her good friends and fellow influencers James Kavanagh and Louise Cooney, and she describes the three as part of ‘the older crew’ of that sphere.
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she → do → sphere
It was with gym workouts that Cullen took her first steps into the influencer world, alongside insights into her former job as a personal shopper
The 34-year-old joked: ‘We kind of feel like we’re geriatrics really when it comes to social media, because you have all these young TikTokers coming up.
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TikTokers → take → media
So it is so nice for us to just bounce off each other, because we’ve also been together through the whole change on Instagram.’
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we → bounce → Instagram
She said the now massively popular photo sharing platform was ‘just hipsters’ when the friends began posting, with no stories or reels, and rival Snapchat still ‘very much a thing’.
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Snapchat → say → stories
Cullen said the friendships are particularly important given the often-isolated nature of being an influencer.
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friendships → say → nature
‘We don’t have an office to go to.
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We → have → office
We don’t have work colleagues.
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We → have → colleagues
We don’t have a HR department.
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We → have → department
We are self-employed.
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We → employ → ?
So it is amazing to have really genuine friendships, who work in the same industry.
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who → have → industry
Kavanagh even ‘properly introduced’ Cullen to her late husband Jamie Gill.
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Kavanagh → introduce → husband
Tragically, Jamie died last year after an illness, just one year into their marriage.
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Jamie → die → marriage
His death and her grief remain too raw to discuss in interviews, but she says she is ‘definitely more careful about what I post now’ online, given the turmoil of her personal life in the last couple of years.
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I → remain → years
But she insisted her relationship with social media hasn’t otherwise changed that much.
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relationship → insist → media
Jamie's death and her grief remain too raw to discuss in interviews, but she says she is ‘definitely more careful about what I post now’ online, given the turmoil of her personal life in the last couple of years
‘
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I → remain → years
I think that one thing that my followers have enjoyed about me is that I haven’t really held back.
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I → think → me
I’ve shared my opinion even when it comes down to political things or human rights.
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it → share → things
I’d never back away from sharing something that I believe in.’
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I → back → that
The in-demand influencer is currently working with Lidl to promote the supermarket’s Crivit line of sportswear and equipment, with designs from stylist Corrina Gaffney.
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influencer → work → Gaffney
The line is ‘more relatable to your average person, who just wants to start up training or is in training,’ Cullen says.
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Cullen → want → training
‘I know with a lot of young girls, people think they need to be wearing the higher-end brands, and they don’t.
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they → know → brands
They can just get Crivit, which is so accessible and so affordable.
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which → get → Crivit
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
