Straight Men Want To Do Pilates Soooo Bad

The girlies are obsessed with Pilates — and, apparently, so are the boys. No, you won’t find them sipping a post-workout matcha in a matching Alo set, or see them wiping down their reformer at the end of a heated class. They’re obsessed in a different way: You’ll hear stories from their wives about how they want them to do Pilates daily, or see them on television criticising their partner for not going every day. 

These scenarios aren’t make-believe, unfortunately. In the recently aired Love Is Blind Season 10, cast member Chris Fusco criticized his fiancée, (Dr.) Jessica Barrett, for her fitness habits. “Like, in the normal world, I date people who f*cking do, like, CrossFit and sh*t,” he said. “It’s just someone who does f*cking Pilates every day, or someone who’s working out every day.” (He later told Netflix, “I don’t regret being honest with her. I just regret the way I expressed the words that actually came out of my mouth.)

And then, on March 25, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jessi Draper went on Call Her Daddy for a tell-all about her divorce from her husband of five years, Jordan Ngatikaura. In the interview, Draper told host Alex Cooper she was “constantly being dumped on,” and that right before they separated in 2025, Ngatikaura had told her that he wanted her to start doing Pilates every single day. (Her Campus reached out to Ngatikaura directly comment, but didn’t hear back at the time of publication.)

For the most part, a majority of these men will flat-out say they “don’t know what Pilates is” or even how it works — but they still like a girl who does it.

Men can’t keep their mouths shut about it on TikTok, either. On the FYP, you may stumble across a guy saying, “We need to bring back stay-at-home Pilates wives,” or another one saying women should “keep doing Pilates” because it’s “such a green flag.” And for the most part, a majority of these men will flat-out say they “don’t know what Pilates is” or even how it works — but they still like a girl who does it. Right.

Sure, it could have something to do with the stereotype of a “Pilates princess”— thin, white, and always in a feminine matching set. And since Pilates is far less male-dominated, participants can be seen as “more attractive” than women who power lift. 

But even deeper than that, this trend is just a manifestation of something even more infuriating: the way men constantly feel entitled to an opinion about, and control over, women’s bodies and physical choices.

I’d like to see one of these men get on a reformer every single day just as much as I’d like to see them deal with day two of a period.

Think about it. In a society where the majority male lawmakers are passing bills to outlaw abortion and restrict access to birth control, and where conservative talking heads urge young women to be obedient, serve their husbands, and have children, men wanting a say on a woman’s body — and how they choose to use it — is scarily normalized. Weaponizing fitness, especially trending workouts like Pilates, is just another tactic to attempt to strip women of their agency. And it’s super fricking gross.

However, what we have as women is strength. I’d like to see one of these men get on a reformer every single day just as much as I’d like to see them deal with day two of a period, the agonizing pain of childbirth, or have them watch as their rights continue to get stripped away.  Because, hey, if you’re so obsessed with Pilates and our bodies, why not give ‘em a try — or are you not man enough?

So, to the men out there who just love Pilates girls, I leave you this: Put on those matching sets you love so bad. Buy a solidcore membership. And shut your damn mouth when it comes to how we women move our bodies.