Man in ladies swimming pool showers with his phone out.

More than likely oblivious and I would like to think mortified if it was pointed out to him . I know someone this happened to (minus the phone) and he was mortified and quickly made escape. As for phones, showers, changing rooms, toilets should all be phone free zones

He felt awkward with semi clothed girls around so he thought he would get his phone out to look less creepy? Best case scenario he has incredibly low situational awareness/is thoughtless which is plausible. But arguing he had his phone out because he was aware it was an awkward place to be and wanted to alleviate that is too far. If he felt awkward he could have moved away even if he didn't realise it was for girls/women only (despite it being all females there).
I agree there are situations when men can be unfairly suspected but this isn't one of them "these days a grown man can't even stand in the female showers we're underage girls are washing and get his phone out without someone suspecting him of being a creep". It's reasonable to expect other people to think that in those circumstances.

And convenient it was in the female shower area too. I bet he wouldn't try it with men around.

How convenient he hadn’t read the signs or taken notice of his surroundings

a little too convenient

He is.

Nobody should be using a phone in a changing / showering area, let alone a male doing just that in the female area.

And before you ask, I spent a decade running swimming lessons, and I frequently had to tell people to put their phones away despite it being clear in the lesson Ts and Cs that mobile phones were not allowed on the premises and clear signage everywhere.

It’s called safeguarding.

I never said this particular man had his phone pointing at anyone. I said, going by the responses on this thread, some women would see a man literally pointing a phone at them in the shower and still make excuses for him. A theoretical situation.

Yet most people’s first response is to assume he’s doing something wrong

Just having a phone out in an area where people are in swimwear or in a state of undress is a safeguarding fail.

This shouldn’t be hard to understand.

Not necessarily ‘a monster’ but either a fucking idiot or a dodgy bloke running up way more red flags than should be ignored.

HTH.

No decent man would have his phone out in a changing room or shower. Wtaf

I’m sorry I sounded judgy. I guessed individual cubicles but I still wouldn’t go sorry.

Well, yes, that's kind of my point. If you don't do it in the first place, no one can speculate on it and come to the worst conclusions.

I don’t see the point of them either. We either have all female communal areas or self contained cubicles.

If he has his phone out by the showers then yes i will assume he is a monster. Unless there was a medical emergency there is no reason on this earth for that man to have his phone in his hand. And folk making excuses for him are warped.

@ConstanzeMozart ...or have three pages of MN comments based on one vague post 😉

This is precisely why people need to exercise common sense about having phones out and visible in changing/shower room situations. Yes, someone might make assumptions about it being his and not his son's, and likely it was innocent; but it's so easy NOT to have a phone in a shower/changing room and just not put anyone in a position where they might put 2 and 2 together and make 6; or, on the other side, risk the person with the phone being reported/censured for a completely innocent act.

And this is why I hate mixed sex changing areas.

This should never have been normalised.

It only benefits pervy men.

You should have called him out and complained to management.

If it was a woman on her phone, everyone would be saying, why is she not helping her DC, she must be addicted to her phone, can people not go 5 seconds without being on their phone, why didn't she read the signs ..... but a man, well, it's fine if it's a man ...
Jeez!

Trust your instinct. It is rarely wrong. Don't ever feel you need to justify or explain. If you feel it is wrong, it almost always is. Report it.

The OP said nothing about the man pointing a phone at anyone. She said "with his phone in his hand". It's not clear how she knew it was 'his' phone and not his son's and she doesn't say whether he was looking at it or touching the screen or whether it was held by his side. Therefore any inference from the words "with his phone in his hand" is just conjecture.

Or in fact any showers. Even giving benefit of the doubt (not having seen the signage) about it being the ladies, noone needs to have a device with a camera out in any sort of area where people are changing or washing. Get changed and go deal with it outside. I'm sorry you had to experience this selfish and thoughtless (at best) person

And a womens shower area is the place to do those things? I swear, some women would be showering and seeing a man pointing a phone at them and still make excuses for why he couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong 🙄 probably just taking a selfie etc. We need to learn to override the urge to downplay things in case we offend a man

He's got eyes, he can see women and children showering, he should have put his phone away. Of course people are going to think he's a perv if he doesn't.

Next to where people are showering??

So every dad that waits for his son to shower is now a monster?