Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Marks & Spencer protest

371 replies

invisibleoldwoman · 18/04/2018 14:39

Here is an email sent to M&S today.

"I needed new bras. Normally I go to one of your stores, get fitted, get advice and buy several. Have a look around generally and maybe coffee or lunch in the cafe. Now, I cannot deal with the stress of worrying about whether I will have to deal with a male fitter, or men in the changing rooms. So I have bought my bras somewhere I don't have to deal with this. I have decided not to use your online shop as I do not wish to support a company that makes it impossible for me to feel comfortable visiting a changing room or asking for a personal service."

I have decided to send this sort of feedback everytime I fail to buy something somewhere where they have gone along with the self-id policy.

OP posts:
MsMcWoodle · 19/04/2018 18:17

Exactly- along with their male penis.

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 18:14

Point being, they are men's breasts that belong in the men's change

MadBadDaddy · 19/04/2018 17:57

@Pratchet - Regular doses of oestrogen will definitely do that over time

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 19/04/2018 17:57

Oh!

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 17:56

Yes and go on about it as well, quite often

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 19/04/2018 17:55

Do they seriously wear bras?!

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 17:48

I think some men do have breasts die to hormones tho

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 19/04/2018 17:48

Well you did say "they're not all women", Daddy, but whatever.

Jojoanna · 19/04/2018 17:43

Gap have unisex changing rooms with only thin curtains in the town I shop. Not sure I would use them

MadBadDaddy · 19/04/2018 17:43

@Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar ...and reading back, I didn't actually say that men had breasts, because I'm a smartarse like that.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 19/04/2018 17:42

The ones that have breasts are not men, they are transmen. Why should thousands of women be made to feel uncomfortable to ensure the pc comfort of the vanishingly tiny percentage of people who would actually welcome this?
If a self styled man needs to wear a bra, "he" can join the rest of the people with breasts (women) and will pass completely unremarked in doing so.

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 17:41

Still don't need to be in the women's change

MadBadDaddy · 19/04/2018 17:36

@Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar The ones that have breasts do. I thought it a fair point, but 'pols for being clunky making it.

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 17:30

Yup

are they the only people in the whole world allowed to be triggered

ijustwannadance · 19/04/2018 17:23

Well they can campaign for more female-identified bra fitters and try them on in the gents change room.

They won't though will they, because they will say being fitted by another tran woman would be "triggering".

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 19/04/2018 17:22

Men don't have breasts, MadBadDaddy, so I'm not sure what your somewhat belaboured point actually is?

Rufustheconstantreindeer · 19/04/2018 16:56

Wasnt just talking about womans dress stores

And again...even in purely womens stores i have never seen a male assistant at the changing rooms

Again happy to say it occurs as I certainly haven't been into every shop in the country (i dont care what dh may be telling you...its a fib Grin)

But so far...no

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 16:49

Well they can campaign for more female-identified bra fitters and try them on in the gents change room.

MadBadDaddy · 19/04/2018 16:38

@Pratchet ...some of whom need bras.

Pratchet · 19/04/2018 16:30

Trans'women' are female-identified men.

SusanBunch · 19/04/2018 16:23

But is this protest by the OP based on a new policy by M&S or is it still back to that thread about a suspected trans bra fitter?

SusanBunch · 19/04/2018 16:22

Women’s shops don’t tend to have male/female changing rooms. My experience was of women’s shops e.g. oasis, warehouse which just have a changing area but it’s sometimes staffed by men.

crispbuttyfan · 19/04/2018 16:21

sirvix the equality act allows gender re-assignment exemptions, in very few situations, and the burden is very high, it certainly does not cover toilets or changing rooms.

I've seen the anti-trans spins on the equality act and it is embarrassingly silly.

They use exemptions allowable between women and men, and position that as women and trans women.

The whole point of gender-reassignment guidance is that trans women are legally treated as women, and trans men legally treated as men. Except like I said in very few circumstances, that do not cover toilets or changing facilities.

MadBadDaddy · 19/04/2018 16:17

@Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar - anyone with breasts needs a bra, so that means not just women. Even if they're not doing the fitting, they'll still be doing their shopping.

Also, I feel sorry for the poor sod at the end of all this - they may have had no say in where they were posted. Whatever, they would be vetted and trained. And how would it look if M&S just parked the transperson somewhere 'safe' or 'inoffensive'?

R0wantrees · 19/04/2018 16:12

The pressure is being put on Primark this week... from the tweet raising complaint it seems this was because a trans woman had been asked for id, not because they had been refused entry.