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

[MrsSnippyPants]

Fresh thread in case part 2 fills up overnight.
I am yet to receive a reply to my third email, have been furiously tweeting, and as am now pursuing the options available to me as a shareholder.
Still crossing fingers for John Lewis!

I'm horrified by the male reviews on the M&S website.

I attempted to peak four people at the weekend about this, every single one of them was already aware and disgusted.

If anyone reading this works at m&s I recommend bringing up this issue with your in store BIG representative, it can be done in confidence.

Scenario A: Amirah is a Muslim woman. She is forbidden by her religious beliefs to share changing spaces with men. Amirah wants to try on some clothing in your store, but in order to feel comfortable that she is not breaking a tenant of her religion, she needs to be certain there are no males present. Which fitting rooms should Amirah use?

Scenario B: Joyce is 79 years old and has limited mobility. She needs to use the disabled-friendly changing cubicle, which does not have a lockable door, only a curtain. Joyce is horrified by the idea that males could be in the changing area with her and is unable to use a cubicle with a door lock as a result of her disability. Where could Joyce go in your store to feel comfortable?

Scenario C: Anna is a victim of sexual assault. As a result of this trauma, Anna feels afraid to undress in the presence of males. Anna wants to try on some jeans. Where should Anna go to feel comfortable while in a state of undress?

Scenario D: Bethany has brought her 13 year old daughter, Eva, for her first bra fitting. Eva is nervous and embarrassed about her changing body. She wants to know there will be only other girls and women around her during her bra fitting. Where can Bethany take her daughter so that she feels comfortable?

Scenario E: Debbie is recovering from a mastectomy. She is still receiving cancer treatment and is emotionally and physically vulnerable. She is uncomfortable with the scars and shape of her chest and needs a supportive, female-only environment. Where should Debbie go to feel comfortable in your store?

Scenario F: Jonathan likes to dress up in women's clothing. It creates feelings of sexual arousal. He likes to try on female underwear and take pictures of himself doing so, in a state of arousal, then return the soiled items to the rack for unsuspecting women to pick up. Jonathan feels very comfortable in the female changing areas. Where would you want your staff to direct Jonathan to change when in your store?

This is great, thanks Opinion. These are exactly the type of scenarios I think of and wonder why on earth any of these shops think it's ok to let a man into our changing rooms?

It is literally putting men with a fetish's wants over the rights, safety and dignity of women and girls. I can't get my head around why they ever thought it was ok. Actually, I do know. It's because they've been brainwashed by training from certain people who have told them that 'Jonathan' is 'stunning and brave' and therefore needs to be able to go wherever he wants, do whatever he wants and anyone who questions him is a hateful bigot.

Justabaker and YourOpinionIsNoted

Brilliant work, and some amazing posts from so many other women on here, to all.

@CaptainKirksSpikeyGhost

The eternal optimist in me hoped for more I suppose!

@Justabaker and @YourOpinionIsNoted - fantastic work.

Also @Jeanhatchet - Massive thanks to you. You are doing the most important work of us all.

youropinionisnoted

excellent post. I do hope M&S take this seriously.

I have been talking to friends about this issue because I read about it on MN. They all believed that Mixed changing rooms were in addition to male and female.
I think most people probably are also thinking it. Not good.

Any sign of change in policy yet M and S??

I am trying to find a way that shareholders can put pressure on and have put out a couple of feelers. I'll keep the thread updated if I make any progress, but if any other shareholder wants to be kept directly in the loop please DM me.

That email from next, just ridiculous. When they say that customers should use the right changing room for their “gender identity “ wtf does that even mean ? I don’t have one, nor do any women I know, so does that mean we don’t have an allocated changing room...? Oh right, it does.
Have genderfeels and you can saunter bravely into any space. Have a personality and a sex, and you can’t try on clothes.

Yup, boycotting Next too, and will email them back to tell them.

In the meantime, I suggest that we all boycott these stores wherever possible, but that above all, we boycott and protest against M&S - yes, maybe that seems unfair, but they are the ones currently receiving the most publicity, and will therefore receive the most publicity for next quarter’s sales figures (and the reason why they have nosedived even further despite the usually lucrative festive period).

If they can be forced to see the idiocy of their changing rooms policy, and change it back to single sex (+/- provide “third spaces” if they feel the need), then we can all flock back to them so that other retailers consider changing back also. I like M&S and want to go back, but I will not unless they make female changing rooms single (biological) sex once again.

I agree with littlecabbage. I am personally boycotting all stores with unsafe changing rooms, but I think there is something to be said for focussing our efforts.

M&S is a British institution. They are our biggest High Street retailer in many ways, and because they are currently struggling we may be able to eventually convince them to back women. Hell, they could get a great campaign out of this if they saw sense!

ell, they could get a great campaign out of this if they saw sense!

Do you really want them to use women's rights as some second place after thought because they backed the wrong horse?

M&S is a British institution.

Let's be honest here so were most of the Yewtree suspect.

Many moons ago when I was but a whippersnapper...

I had my first proper job at a shoe shop that
is no longer in existence.
We had a creep that would come in regularly and try on ladies knee and thigh high boots, he never bought anything and always chose the young female shop assistants to help.

Management never did anything as he “wasn’t doing anything wrong”. Fuck the fact that he was using your teenage sales assistants to get off on his fetish. I was 16.

This is what really rips my knitting. M&S have stated if someone acts inappropriately then they will be dealt with. So they are perfectly happy to wait until a woman or child is a victim before they take any action. How many women and children are acceptable collateral damage?

Fuck you M&S. Fuck your lack of balls to put women and children first when they are customers. And FUCK YOU for putting your sales assistants at risk from these perverts. It’s been over 20 years and I still remember how that old creep made me feel and how management didn’t give a shit.
I’m your target market, I’m a higher rate tax payer with young children and you won’t get a penny of my fucking money you bunch of spineless cunts.

*Sexnotgender Yes to that.

It's #Respect19 week supporting shop workers! They're asking for photos on the explanatory page.
twitter.com/UsdawUnion/status/1194253599880204291

Sexnotgender YESSSSSSSS! Fuck you M&S you've lost me too

M&S management will be the ones who chose to buy in expensive "equalities" advice and training from Stonewall allied consultants. They are the ones who will have chosen not to have listened to either shop floor staff or customers.

Their salaries will be profit linked. Management is a lot more than ticking boxes. If they can't engage their brains or speak to those around them who live in the real world, they deserve what they get....which is no profit related bonus'.

I am hoping that by frequenting local shops, even if it means that I pay more (so far not the case) I help keep High Streets alive and help ensure there are jobs for local workers.

Tactically, women can most show strength by focusing all protest efforts on one retailer in particular and make an example of them.

If women’s protests, concentrated against just one retailer, result in demonstrated hits to the corporate bottom line, every other business will take note.

At a larger, strategic level, the power of the purse is the Archimedes lever that women hold, and every consumer-goods business knows that. We might not have as much political representation or anything like parity in business leadership, but in a consumer-driven economy, we hold enormous leverage via our spending choices. While political parties feel free to ignore us, the High Street cannot.

And a woman takes no risk at all by withholding her spending.

I agree Bicker, focus on M&S.

@Sexnotgender

Amen to that

Everything BickerinBrattle said.

Everything in this house is held and owned jointly but I make the spending decisions. I suspect that's the case in a significant number of households.

M&S have had three emails from me now. I've had the standard bog-off stock response and two further holding responses. My next step is to visit the branch where I usually shop each week and explain to the very nice female manager why she won't be seeing me anymore. It's a branch that is under pressure to maintain and increase its customer base so it won't be welcome news to her.

All clothing and household items such as cookware, bedding etc. is from the joint budget but I’m the decision maker. Got some M&S vouchers that need used but other than that they won’t see a penny more of my hard earned cash.

I've gone all sinister now. I am not a conspiracy type. But there are too many coincidences and red flags here. I'm past thinking this is just ignorance and arrogance.

They may well have gotten advice from Stonewall et al on 'gender'. But I think they know exactly what's going on. They will have good data on their website - who purchases, who comments, where the traffic on their e-commerce site comes from. If they've got pro-active web guys they will know that they are frequently mentioned on sissification and other pervert sites. They have at least one board member in common with Target the US retailer who went to unisex changing rooms. Target had a surge in 'changing room incidents'.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time - that's a conspiracy.