Earlier this week, Gold's Gym Dreamland, in Cairo, Egypt, came under fire for posting ads suggesting that it's not okay for women to look a certain way. "This is no shape for a girl," read an image of a pear that the company shared on Facebook.
Gold's Gym apologized for the body-shaming ads, saying it would have the Facebook page removed and end its agreement with the Cairo sub-franchise.
The ad is no longer on Facebook, but Dirty Dancing and Little Miss Sunshine actress Abigail Breslin is still angry about it, and rightfully so. In two Instagram posts, the 20-year-old actress summed up exactly what's wrong with telling women how their bodies should and should not be shaped.
"Things like this are the reason [9-year-old] girls develop eating disorders," she wrote. "Working out should be something you do for yourself, your health and your mind and body, not because a corporation declares your body shape isn't what girls should look like. Also, I wonder if it's cool with Gold's Gym for men to be pear-shaped? Interesting they had to single out females."
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Breslin also called out another ad that contrasted a small woman against the silhouette of a larger one with the text "challenge yourself."
"How about CHALLENGE YOURSELF to not be a body shaming, ignorant, mean spirited company?" she wrote.
Hopefully, Gold's Gym — and the fitness industry in general — are ready to step up and meet that challenge.