Last weekend, Shane Gillis hosted Saturday Night Live. It was the third time he has hosted since being fired from the cast, because cancel culture is not real, especially if you are a celebrity and can make someone money. I rarely watch SNL anymore and, if I’m being fully honest, sometimes forget it is on the air unless a clip goes viral or a host accidentally swears. In this recent episode, Shane Gillis did both.
What makes this incident interesting is that the swearing seems to be the least of the issues people are talking about. When I saw multiple headlines saying that Shane had dropped “a f-bomb” on air, I assumed (due to his ties to Joe Rogan- who got name-dropped in the monologue) that he must have used a homophobic slur. This is where we are as a culture: I was pleasantly surprised that a comedian cursed on television and only said, “Fuck”.
Instead, what bothered many (at least many on my social media feeds) came in Gillis’ opening monologue. In discussing his attempts to be healthier, Shane discussed going to a New York gym and, boy howdy, did he have some thoughts about the people there.
From the monologue:
Also, I haven’t been to the gym in so long. I didn’t know women just dressed like whores now.
Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe… Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts? Those neon…
They’re like artificial-bait colored.
And the wrinkles—the wrinkles go like around the cheeks and all combine at the butthole.
And thus opened the Internet take machine.
All over all social media platforms, hot takes were coming in everywhere. Most were negative towards Gillis, pointing out that perhaps a dude hosting a television show in a black t-shirt and jeans is not exactly the fashion icon we need right now. Some defended the comedian, pointing out that a man who has sold as many tickets as he has must have some comedic merit. Some said that Gillis’ disgust over women’s wardrobe choices may reveal latent homosexual tendencies.
I think the truth is much sadder.
When a take comes in close to an event, it is known as a hot take. However, I have thoughts on what happened, and we are days past the event. So, allow me to present my cool take.
I guess here is what I would say about Gillis’ observation: If you are stunned by how the women are dressing, my guy, have you looked at the men?
In the past year, I have been going to the gym multiple times a week. Recently, a Crunch Fitness opened in my neighborhood and their introductory rate was so good that I said farewell to Planet Fitness and started going there. In these two gyms, I have certainly noticed people dressing in very revealing workout wear. I would also say that, on average, over half of that group are dudes.
The amount of gentlemen who have passed by me while wearing shirts where you can basically see their entire chest (save for a floss-thick piece of fabric which- MAYBE- covers a nipple) is enough where I assume I am attempting my leg day alongside multiple members of the Chicago Bears. Dudes love to show off their delts and pecs and biceps and triceps and glutes… some of these muscles I actually know where they are! And how do I know this? Because, dear reader, I am one of them.
This is what I normally wear to work out: a sleeveless shirt and some sweatpants. And it took me a long time to work up to this. Because I used to feel like Gillis, believing that one should not expose their body in the gymnasium. But, as my time in the gym increased, I started to feel the way that I imagine most people in the gym do- we want to wear clothes that are comfortable, easy to move in, and make us feel good about ourselves. And if that means a little more skin that a comedian is comfortable with makes an appearance, then so be it.
And this brings us back to Gillis.
Shane Gillis’ entire monologue was based on his weight. He was not hiding how we feels about his body type, pointing out that friend Theo Von said that he looks like a “gas station egg”. And, with that context, I see now what his issue is with how people are dressing at the gym. Because it’s not about women.. or men. And it’s not about some repressive urges he has. It’s about Shane Gillis’ self-worth. Like I said, I can relate to those feelings.
When Shane Gillis goes after how women dress in the gym, he isn’t making a statement on sexuality or culture or even gender. He is making a statement about himself. He is saying: “I do not like the way I look. I would never dress in a way where more skin was showing than necessary. And I cannot possibly imagine a person feeling good about themselves in this way without needing to place a label on them.” Honestly, it makes me sad. And look, he said some really stupid things in his monologue, all of which felt very awkwardly performed.
Keep working out, Shane. Maybe some day, you’ll be comfortable enough to show some skin. But, until that day, let people wear whatever the fuck they want.
