Hampstead Heath Women's Pond

Husband just showed me the article on this and we had a good rant about it.

Heaven forbid women should get anything to ourselves. There's a perfectly good mixed bathing pond there, but no. Doesn't offer the same opportunity to trample all over women's boundaries, so evidently it won't do.

And women are falling all over themselves to roll out the red carpet! I'm sorry, but if I'm not reading stories of inappropriate behaviour or worse within a year, then I will eat my hat.

I'm tempted to get myself up to the men's pond. Anyone with me?

Surely this proves it is not about access, or rights as they have access to 2 other pools, and every right to be in either of those.

It's just about infiltrating women's spaces.

Frankly I don't care which 'type' of women use it. It's just another bunch of TRAs trampling over women's boundaries and demanding women's spaces.

There is a perfectly good mixed space and a man's space. If the TRAs don't want to use them then campaign for their own space.

I'm going to repeat this on every bloody trans thread until the TRAs and their handmaidens get it. I will not compromise my boundaries for anyone's feelings. If that makes you sad and think I'm being literally violent or whatever bullshit I am past caring. I don't care what anyone identifies as, you identity does not give you the right to trample my boundaries. I won't apologize, I won't accept your insults. Learn that tolerance works both ways and show some respect for women for a damned change.

Why should the men get 3 ponds and women no ponds? Seriously, are men this fragile? Its like watching a spoiled kid at someone else's birthday party.

Slightly struggle to see why so many adjustments need to be made for these "women who have been abused".

Charming.

Personally, I struggle - and not slightly - to see why so many adjustments need to be made for these "men who struggle in the man box".

When I was recovering from an illness and had trouble with certain forms of exercise, I used to do lane swimming to get my fitness levels back up. Didn't have the lung capacity for freestyle, so did breast stroke. At least every third session, a bloke (and not always the same bloke) would organise it so that he could swim behind me. If I changed lanes, so would the bloke. Yes, I complained. Yes, the staff had a word. But it's wearing that this is a regular thing. In the end, I just went to the women-only session so that I could do my lengths without distraction.

And I'm not even an abuse survivor, to whom this would matter much, much more.

Try for a bit of fellow feeling, janesmom. Or, as others have said, try being a bit less obvious with the baiting.

hiya, the changing rooms are no longer sex segregated either. there is a mixed pool, and a men's pool. All needs are met. Now men have taken this pool and the changing rooms away from women 'cos they want to.

I guess you only get worked up about this stuff if you give a shit about women and girl's rights and I understand lots of people don't. sad really.

Just make the whole thing mixed. As some others I can't get too worked up about it. Changing rooms should be segregated, pools not.

I know a few dear friends who have very sadly been abused in the past but they all have entirely normal reasonable lives and, to the extent they have issues, would ever expect the world to revolve around them

Unlike TIMs then?

argh
I was so hoping that they would be able to battle against this.

But the good news is that men gain more rights, so yay! Men get to wear a bikini and swim in the women's pool so that's good.

Slightly struggle to see why so many adjustments need to be made for these "women who have been abused"

Yes, lots of people struggle with women and girls having rights, you're not the only one.

There is a men's pool and a mixed pool and now the women have lost theirs. Just like they lose their sporting events and their right to privacy and dignity. their voices, their language, their representation.

It’s not about the fact that it might be for ‘rich white wonen’ (which it’s not).
It’s about the fact that our rights as women are being eroded, funnily enough, by men. There is a mixed pool, that they can freely use and a men only pool.

I’m not an activist by any means, but I am sick and tired of this whole trans v cis thing. I am a real woman and if I choose to have surgery to become a man, I will still have the same female dna running throughout my body. The same is in reverse. A man will never have the same experience of being a woman, whatever modification he chooses to have. He will never have had real periods, grown boobs from scratch, be able to bear children etc, despite what surgery and hormone they have.
They will never had the battles to get equal pay and equal rights that we fought for, and now appear to be losing.

Is it such a huge thing really, that we sometimes want our own spaces away from men and some privacy amongst our sisters and daughters? And when we protest against our privacy being invaded, we are called derogatory names, such as ‘terf’ , or told we are committing hate crimes.
I don’t want to share changing rooms with someone who is born male and has decided to become a female. Or who is ‘gender fluid’ whatever the heck that means.

Surely trans-identifying people of either sex could use the mixed pool if they just want to swim, and no one would think anything of it? The fact that they're insisting on using the women's pool suggests it's more about making a point and forcing their way into yet another female space. What a shame.

Women arent allowed anything of their own, they might get uppity. And it hurts mens feelings to only be allowed to use 2 out of the 3 ponds.

Slightly struggle to see why so many adjustments need to be made for these "women who have been abused".

I know a few dear friends who have very sadly been abused in the past but they all have entirely normal reasonable lives and, to the extent they have issues, would ever expect the world to revolve around them. Have tremendous sympathy but having special swimming pools for women who have been abused takes things a little bit far!

But you have no problem with the world revolving around men who think they are women? And 'adjustments' being made for them?

But if there are 3 pools why on earth can't biological women have one of them?

Gah - semi-naked. Bloody autocorrect!

@ Janesmom

Un peu imflammatory, surely?

You're doing it a little too thick, my dear.

Might I suggest you do little more work finessing the tone of your persona on reddit, or something, then come back again?

A for Effort; E for Attainment.

We have sex segregation for a good reason, which is why there is a women's pool in the first place. It's not a small proportion of women who have suffered sexual abuse in one form or another, it's the vast majority. A pool where you are not exposed to men while you are semi-independently is really quite s reasonable ask in a world where 97% of sexual assault is carried out by men. And besides which, who exactly is expecting the world to revolve around them here, the women using the women's pool, or men in bikinis demanding access to it?!

I used to regularly attend women only sessions at our local pool, as there wasn't the tutting/being forced out of lanes by the male swimmers. Now they've made the male/female changing rooms into unisex lockers and I hate it. It's my issue that I'm self-conscious about my body but I don't want to share a changing room with a man I don't know and never will. Even if he is wearing a bikini.

@frogsoup

Slightly struggle to see why so many adjustments need to be made for these "women who have been abused".

I know a few dear friends who have very sadly been abused in the past but they all have entirely normal reasonable lives and, to the extent they have issues, would ever expect the world to revolve around them. Have tremendous sympathy but having special swimming pools for women who have been abused takes things a little bit far!

Its not just 'rich white women', have you ever been there? I've been going since age 12, it's the best. And basically free!

Janesmom but it isn't about you. I wouldn't care either. But I haven't been raped or abused, or been brought up in a religion that makes it a no-go to swim with men. There is no earthly reason why a transitioning mtf can't use the mixed pool. The ONLY losers here (as ever) are women.

Jane - there is a men's pond and also a mixed pond. I've googled it for you:

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath/swimming/Pages/default.aspx

Is it, Mum?

It's changed a lot from the days when I used to go, then.

Practically every lesbian in London attended during the summer. And there was always a frisson of tension between the lesbians and the Ladies.