M&S Colchester claim mixed changing is ‘completely safe’ for women.

And what about all the women and little girls who have a mental health crisis because they are raped, assaulted or filmed in mixed sex spaces?

A manager has a responsibility to follow the law and keep customers safe.

This manager ignored the law and treated a woman like a pest simply because she asked for her legal rights.

I have to be topless to try on a bra, though. But you presumably know this already.

@PollyNomial I linked to the study, so I was pretty clear about the context.

Men with bad intentions don't want to get caught. They prefer unisex spaces because they have a better chance of enjoying their paraphilia.

Ok so if he has a mental health crisis as a result of social media fallout that's ok with you? Nice! Glad you're not one of my relatives.

You have to be down to your pants. That's quite enough for many of the voyeurs.

Do you have to get fully undressed to try on a pair of shorts?

Nice try. I would hazard a guess that the number of women who are concerned about a trans man having access to the area where she or her daughter is or will undress is zero.

It’s males they worry about - however they identify or present- due to a lifetime of experience and verifiable statistics.

You may call these women misandrists if you wish, but they’re not transphobic.

They both involve changing rooms, so not fundamentally different?

I think you need to be clear about the context of that study, which was swimming pools not department stores, and I would contend which are a significantly different environment.

If he was being.a dick I'd think he had it coming.

The issue is who they consider to be women. Like that’s their choice to make.

And that's from the Independent, so no-one can bleat "Oh, that's a right wing rag!"

@tokennamechange women and girls are at 9 times more risk of sexual assault in mixed sex spaces. It's absolutely the responsibility of the manager to know that and follow the law.

Instead he claims that a mixed sex space is 'perfectly safe'. It's not just a difference of opinion, it's ignorance that puts women and girls in danger.

Unisex changing rooms put women at danger of sexual assault, data reveals | The Independent | The Independent

Stratford M&S are advertising separate womens and men's changing rooms on their website (screenshot from today)

If this guidance does pass into legislation, that might signal the start of the mixed-gender spaces revolution. It has been interesting to watch the slow reveal of this happening from the side-lines. I think the word 'foot', 'self' and 'shot' come to mind.

Leaving aside the "nobody is going to die for shorts" quip, why are you making women do all the work to be aware and to protect themselves? Why can we not - as we used to be able to do - walk through a section for women, right to the back of the lingerie department of an M&S store, and still have to make sure that there are no men in there?

"Nobody is going to die as a result of not being able to try on a pair of shorts."

Exactly.
So why do the men need to be in there in the first place?

Would you be happy for one of your family members to be publicly humiliated like this?

If the employee had been a woman would that have changed your view?

I gather and I’m only taking this from a post on X the stores website (which I haven’t checked myself) does claim to have fitting rooms (men) and fitting rooms (women).

https://x.com/chris_cross1498/status/2059717800751444382?s=46&t=ZX_bLozRqm8etdGICMcAvA

Would you like a ladder for that reach?

You must be pretty desperate to equate not following correct processes for something that could, at worst, literally result in mass casualties to incorrect details about changing rooms being provided on a website.

Unless the shop itself has a sign saying the changing rooms are female only, which no evidence has been provided to suggest is the case, then regardless of what the website is anyone who wants to use them would see they were labelled mixed gender (or whatever phrasing they use) and make an informed decision about whether they feel safe using them BEFORE they go in. Nobody is going to die as a result of not being able to try on a pair of shorts.

The underlying point is that by filming and uploading that clip on to social media she has abused and publicly humiliated a retail employee. Are you happy for that to happen to one of your relatives?

It strikes me that many of the "it's humiliating to film a man blatantly being dismissive to women" crowd are the same ones who use the "evidence or it didn't happen" mantra as well.

Not all mind you, but there's a fairly large overlap in that particular Venn diagram.

I remember how much camaraderie there used to be in open plan women's changing rooms back in the day. Shopping was fun. And there were individual changing rooms within those for anyone who wanted privacy.

I agree.

And would add that the decisions to e.g. get rid of single-sex changing rooms, introduce pronoun badges, etc. are made by people who were once this man, but then got promoted to a point where they could make a difference to the way the company is run.

Lots of women have issues anout their body, scars lack of confidence etc they value other womend opinions so will ask friends what they think you cant do that if some block is standing there whilst you ask about your swimming costumes fit. Are bra fittings also going to be uni sex?