You know what I think is interesting? As a decently buff woman, the attitude of men towards me in a gym vs in a martial arts academy is VERY different.
Usually men in a gym will look at me That Way™ when I walk into the weight section and do 2 hours of upper body weight training. A lot are judgemental af, trying to dissect my form even tho I've gone through several personal trainers and my form is usually better than theirs. Just overall bad energy.
The men in my martial arts academy?
Something else entirely.
The guys from muay thai and bjj, especially the ones from wrestling, are always hyping me up and encouraging me. Of course there's some exceptions, but most of these dudes have already been humbled by enough women that they're eons less judgemental.
They respect me enough to not go easy on me but they don't try to genuinely injure me (bad sportsmanship no matter the gender). If something about my form in a technique is off, they will give me constructive criticism instead of being demeaning or just staying silent about it to try to guarantee a win.
A guy last week was like "you really be brawling, you picked me up and rolled my on the ground like an alligator", and another dude today was like "you're getting so strong so fast it's ridiculous." AND I'M LIKE THANK YOU FOR THE GOOD ENERGY, WORKING OUT IS 80% OF MY PERSONALITY SO IM HOPING TO BE GOOD IN AT LEAST THAT😭😭😭💕💕