Marks and Spencer have fallen, part III; we’re gonna need a bigger boat

I sew pants, and when I'm being lazy, I don't sew the gusset down. It's definitely a profit margin thing.

I wonder how the poor staff feel about handling the used knickers

Yet men can write this stuff and get all the thumbs up they like.

I don't want to sound all conspiracy theorist - although it's increasingly hard to resist the thought that there is some organisational approach to all this - but on the Transwidows threads, their former spouses or partners often worked in IT.

Site moderators, data analysts, data-driven purchasing and policies. Even just one IT expert would be enough to have a disproportionate influence on it all.

I once had a review refused by the M&S automated moderator which I deduced was because I included the word “crotch”.

It was in relation to a pair of trousers which were very bizarrely proportioned and was a perfectly justifiable and non-sexual use of the word. But it wouldn’t post.

Yet men can write this stuff and get all the thumbs up they like.

I am starting to wonder if a good proportion of the men on the boards of these companies are into knicker-wearing and AGP themselves. It might explain their reluctance to act.

I want to thank M&S for drawing my attention to the fact that there are some pervy men around, who try on their knickers in changing rooms - possibly deliberately leaving the door open, because they want to be seen - and then put them back on the rack.

No more knickers off the rack for me!!

Thanks TimeLady

Just sent my fourth email to M&S, this time to thank them.

Well, if it had not been for their changing rooms policy and their open contempt for the safety and comfort of girls and women, I would not have been pushed into shopping elsewhere. New favourites would still be unknowns to me. Truly, M&S has enriched my shopping experience.

I also asked them why they were stonewalling this longstanding customer's emails, questions and genuine concerns. Pun intended, although I'm not laughing.

I think it's being suggested that some of the scantier designs might not be able to contain the contents without them being held securely in place, Datun

The opposite of 'let it all hang out'

Just when I think I've seen how deep and dark men's minds can go...their subterranean world turns out to be way deeper and way darker than I ever could have imagined. What the fuck is wrong with some men? I've naively assumed that this is a 0.001% thing, but there's just too many incidents for that to be true. I honestly thought the man I married was normal. It appears that he's unusual (normal needs, wants and desires, as opposed to fetishes and 'philias) and therefore horrendously abnormal. I will never look at men the same way again. It's like they've all had two heads all along and I've only just noticed. Jeeeeze.

Maybe we need an obliging male to try on a pair and see if things do indeed 'tuck in'.

Oh, is that it?

I thought the unsewn bit was at the front, so it would be getting tucked in backwards, if you see what I mean.

No wonder I didn't get it!

It still seems rather an inadequate method, to be honest.

Strong control pants would seem, to me, to be much more effective.

Maybe we need an obliging male to try on a pair and see if things do indeed 'tuck in'.

Can someone just explain to me about the gusset thing? Not sure I understand.

And yes, those reviews are vomit inducing.

And completely unnecessary. Is Marks & Spencer is so damn naive that they don't realise this is a fetish?

These men are all on websites comparing notes and wanking. The reviews on Marks & Spencer's are nothing more than wank fodder. They are not really to alert other men as to how good the bras are. These men are all on the same websites.

I read recently that sociopathy relies on inducing pity. So it's very interesting that many of these men say how nervous they are to go into the actual store. Trying to prick people's pity trigger by being pathetic.

If I say I'm scared, they'll feel sorry for me, and let me continue to exploit them.

Thanks for updating, Kraken

I am completely bloody sick of retailers not thinking things through.

Marks Suspenders are going to have admit this is a problem - so they either tell women that tall men changing next to them will be able to see them with no effort at all (as you have said you have to make a conscious effort NOT to see in the next cubicle.

OR - they will have say no men over 5'9" can try on the knickers in the women's changing room.

OR they have to remodel their changing rooms.

OR they could just give women a private women only changing room, and introduce a gender neutral one as well. (Why don't they all do this??)

And they should bloody well admit that mixed changing areas cause problems for women regardless of the height of cubicles.

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/sexual-assault-unisex-changing-rooms-sunday-times-women-risk-a8519086.html

Increased risk of sexual assault/voyeurism is a valid concern.

I only found one pair of knickers in Asda yesterday with an unsewn gusset- so its not about price.

What’s that noise you say? I think it’s the sound of hundreds of women riffling through their knickers drawers

My gussets are all sewn. Maybe the pants I buy aren’t sexy enough

Gussets on women's knickers are left open for men? Just how deep does this rabbit hole go?

I guess it's one way one keeping things safely in place.

That's it. No unsewn gussets from me from now on. We've been lied to over that one. "Easier to sew, my ass"

I've had to go and check my pants drawer because of this and now I feel a bit sick. Are the gussets left open at the front for men to tuck their bits into? Is that what you're saying? Ewww

Gusset-gate.

My mind is blown.

Omg - is that really the reason the gusset's not sewn in?

Profit margins, I think, pure and simple. It would be cheaper not to sew the gusset in plus it increases the potential customer base. Win/win.

I'm sure the designers and manufacturers are not unaware, however.

Like with sport, and indeed changing rooms, there should be a seperate space.

Men have their underwear, women have their (with sewn gussets) and trans women have theirs (with unsewn gussets). But I suspect they don't want that. They want ours. The question is why.

So our underwear is adapted.

There is no reason for a woman to need an open gusset. It wouldn’t be practical to insert a sanitary towel, panty liner etc in there. You’d want that on top of the fabric.

Presumably if they sewed the gussets they could be accused of transphobia.

Is there any reason a woman wouldn’t want the gusset sewn down?

Omg - is that really the reason the gusset's not sewn in? Designers are designing women's underwear with men in mind