Hey gals! This activewear brand thinks rape culture is a fun cute motivation to exercise

What motivates you at the start of another long week? Is it the prospect of going out at the weekend, is it online shopping for your summer holiday? Or is it – and it’s obviously this one – the ever present threat of male violence? I know which one gets me outta bed in the morning!

Apparently the same goes for the bright marketing team at Sweaty Betty, who took their #MondayMotivation to a slightly dark place when they tweeted this:

The tweet, which was only deleted this morning, encouraged women to exercise by running away from creepy guys and towards hot ones. You’ve got to hand it to them, they know their audience. Everyone, after all, knows that women only ever exercise when it’s relation to men. Nobody goes to the gym for themselves. Nobody wants to actually like, improve themselves, the only reason anyone wants to be fit is to be hot enough to attract a hot boyfriend and fast enough to evade potential rapists.

Unluckily in the time it took for the company to remove the offensive tweet, people noticed.

Just as a fun little side note, a recent survey of female runners found that one third had been sexually harassed while jogging alone, and over half – 60 per cent – now feel anxious when exercising solo.

Babe has contacted Sweaty Betty for comment. 

@rosielanners