Oh my God I loved writing that last entry, but now is where the smoke clears.
There’s been discussion elsewhere about what the hell we should do about this whole Curves/Gary Heavin business. Curves is a franchise, and from what little I know about franchises, I bet a boycott would mostly hurt franchise owners–at least some of whom probably don’t share the same views as Heavin. When I wrote this last night I hadn’t thought much about what I’d do if I was a Curves member; I just saw anti-choice lobbying and comfy little gym presented side by side and weighed against each other as if they were equally significant, and that pissed me off.
But then, consider that out of all the businesses, institutions, and mind-bogglingly rich individuals who give money to icky pro-life causes, it happens that one of them is Gary Heavin. Which is to say, nearly two million women might know who Gary Heavin is, if you just count the Curves members alone. That’s a lucky thing when you think about it: when it comes to knowing the enemy, this guy’s in our sights.
A pro-choice reader and new Curves member wrote me to point out the franchise factor in terms of profits going to anti-choice organizations, and she thinks it could be a neglible amount. That might be true, but I don�t know for sure, so I’ve edited the previous entry to be less specific about the numbers.
People’s feelings seem to vary on this sort of thing: some want to know exactly how much money goes where; others see it in more symbolic terms and think any amount is too much. I’d love to see a pro-choice organization to do the math and figure out a donation amount sufficient to buy a soul back from Curves, so to speak. Or better, put on a walk/run/bike athletic fundraiser in order to match some of the money Gary Heavin gives to Operation Screw Us Over, and offer special incentives for Curves members, especially if they train for the event at Curves. Hell, we could form a whole bitch army and send them to train at Curves if we really got our shit together, and now I’ll leave it at that.
None of this is true at Contours Express. Contours has put out much about their belief in empowering women and continue to do so. Watch the news, much more coming, including statements on their pro-women stance on a bunch of things.
John (not a CE employee, just good pals with one.)