Next’s fitting room policy

[Darkwoodfurniture]

Long story short went into Next changing room on the women’s floor and there was a man in there.
I complained onsite to just get ‘oh ok’ so complained to HQ.
Their response was that all their fitting rooms are now unisex (even though store staff said they were women's) even if they are on separate floors I.e women’s or men’s.
I queried with them why they didn’t provide lockable doors etc and provide some level of security other than a curtain, along with some signage.
They escalated my complaint and they got back to me saying they feel their fitting rooms are appropriate as they are and won’t be publicising the unisex nature via signage.
I get it’s a trend to make fitting rooms unisex, but surely letting customers know so that they get to make a decision if they want to use them or not, should be the bare minimum.

I’m going to write to my local M&S. This isn’t okay, and other customers were clearly also thinking ‘what the fuck is going on?’

Completely misses the point 🙄

I can't get excited about this.

Many fitting rooms have a chair or sofa for people to wait on whilst their partner/child/friend gets changed. It's not unusual for a man to be waiting for his partner or daughter there anyway.

I'm sick to death of women having their safe spaces and rights pushed to one side.

And this sums it up perfectly ! 👏

No I wasn’t saying people should put up with men in women’s changing rooms, I was saying it didn’t seem like the man in a unisex changing room wasn’t doing any harm. I don’t no why they can’t provide both, I think it makes more sense to have separate male and female, but im
not personally upset by unisex ones.

How does one tell the males with the intentions of causing no harm from the ones that intend to?

Do tell as women everywhere would welcome this golden nugget of information.

You might not care about mixed sex spaces and good for you, but plenty of women do, and you don't get to downplay their concerns.

The M+S whose online moderators publish reviews about how well the women’s knickers fit male genitalia? Good luck.

To those posters saying they don't see the problem / don't have an issue with men in the women's changing room really not see that even if they don't mind, that other women do see a problem / do have an issue and that we, as humanity (women AND men), should stand up and protect those women who WOULD have a problem, even if they are the minority? Do none of you know someone traumatised by sexual assault or are of a religion where it is forbidden? Do those women, because they are in the minority not deserve to be able to do something as simple as try on clothes without fear (even if you think it's an irrational fear)?

Which is annoying as fuck. Go for a wander or wait outside. My partner would never wait inside a female changing room.

How many women do you see waiting for their male partners in their changing rooms?

When I've seen a chair, it's on the other side of the entrance so not the same really

Sometimes the women want their partners opinion.

Sometimes the women want their partners opinion.

So walk out and show them outside the changing room if you really can't wait until you're home.

That doesn't trump others right to privacy and to feel comfortable. Luckily the males in my life aren't dicks and wouldn't do this. You'll always get ones who don't read the room.

Most men I know, know that women do not like men in their changing room.

Therefore they do not go in.

The men who do go in are, by definition, to be avoided.

Sometimes the women want their partners opinion.

No normal man agrees to go in a women's changing room so he can give an opinion on an outfit. Unless they are thick as shit they know it's not the place for them to be hanging around.

As someone who has worked in retail for a long time, this is something that cropped up a lot in the last few years. Our fitting rooms are cubicles with lockable doors but are only on one floor with ladies to the left, gents to the right. There is a big sign behind the check desk that says so, but when we hand over the item counter we have to say 'any available cubicle' and leave them to it. We're actually not allowed to challenge them for what side they choose to go into. If someone comes to us to complain about it we have to pass it on to management and let them take it from there.

I would be interested to know how many women insist on using men’s changing rooms .

Also all of the instances where MEN in women’s changing rooms have been caught spying or filming women getting changed. The kind of men who want to be in women’s spaces are either predatory or doing it for their own kicks. The tide is starting to turn though and Next, M&S etc need to catch up.

Interesting, when I asked staff if it was women’s they said yes, but when talking with HQ they said they are unisex.

Clearly untrue.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/man-films-bristol-woman-getting-1706071

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/attempt-upskirt-cambridge-charity-shop-27757876

https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/police-name-man-35-found-18733762

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/efit-released-after-man-commits-1824039

OP in 96 and 97 I worked in River Island and Topshop respectively.

We had young men also working in those shops.

They manned the fitting rooms during their shifts.

This isn't a new thing.

@TeaKitten

I have no clue. In this case a man was using the unisex changing room so I’m not sure why your comment is even relevant.
The menswear and womenswear are on different floors. For him to be in the changing room on the womenswear floor is enough of a suggestion to me that he's being weird.
I don't need any more evidence to feel there is a risk. I don't need to wait for an assault or perving to have taken place.

Men who present as men would be very unlikely to go to a completely different floor to use the changing room unless they have a specific reason. I can't think of a single reason other than nefarious ones. Decent men would be embarrassed to do so.

OP was it a male presenting man or a trans woman?

Just been looking on Next website. Can’t see anything about whether they are unisex or not. There is an article about ‘Accessibility’ but that goes into details of size of waiting rooms, whether they are steps etc, so is more to do with disability accessibility, rather than male/female.

A few years ago I went to the changing room on the mens' floor at Next to avoid the long queue at the womens'. I got told I wasn't allowed to use them.

Like toilets in theatres, they should either build more women's changing rooms, or replace them with fully enclosed unisex cubicles.

That's not the same thing though. There are male toilet attendants too - everyone is aware of that.

Those are men doing their jobs. They aren't men pushing into places that are for women.

If there were separate cubicles, with curtains, TBH it wouldn’t bother me. Good luck to any bloke who felt like yanking my curtain open to behold me in all my be-knickered glory. I’d be quite capable of telling him to get the fuck out.
But yes, I do think there should be dedicated areas for women’s changing rooms.