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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Boycott JL and Waitrose? : James Esses' latest Substack on John Lewis LGBTQIA++ 'Identity' mag

289 replies

PersephoneSeethes · 15/02/2024 18:31

I saw it this afternoon on Twitter and read the article with utter horror.

I was hoping it would be uplifting stories about people being accepted and living full lives

John Lewis and Waitrose are seemingly actively promoting and policing
pronoun usage by colleagues, Stasi-style. This seems like it is a court case, a-la-Forstater, waiting to happen.

They have an article about 'raising non-binary and transgender children', not from an information position in case Partners come across such families in their stores, but with a heavy activist slant.

I think I have finally been pushed to the edge with this beloved company. I can no longer shop with them, and I shop at Waitrose every week for our main shop, have done for over a decade.

This is a real gut punch because I believe in what Waitrose does, or used to do: they pay their farmers better, their animal welfare is better, their shops don't have the bright lights and loud noises that set off my migraines and irritate family members autistic temperaments. But as someone who grew up a tomboy, and would have been thrown under the gender bus by Stonewall and all the other organisations if I had been a child today, I can't stand by and accept all this nonsense.

OP posts:
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Boiledbeetle · 19/02/2024 08:20

HorribleNecktie · 19/02/2024 08:15

Ruby works at my local shop.

You know. For local people.

Edited

it's nice where you live isn't it. Very green.

Boycott JL and Waitrose? : James Esses' latest Substack on John Lewis LGBTQIA++ 'Identity' mag
TrainedByCatsToBeScathing · 19/02/2024 08:50

I wonder how many account cancelations JL received over the weekend.

Heartbrokenrider · 19/02/2024 08:59

It got mine

NoWordForFluffy · 19/02/2024 09:22

It got mine and both of my in-laws'. I've not checked with DH yet, but he'll be doing it.

PronounssheRa · 19/02/2024 11:30

According to James JL has pulled the ‘Pride in the Partnership' exhibition

https://twitter.com/JamesEsses/status/1759519570014974098

https://twitter.com/JamesEsses/status/1759519570014974098

JulesJules · 19/02/2024 14:48

twitter.com/Sorelle_Arduino/status/1759156897674903921?t=C5wd4Lo-EQKCduCsoZOZEw&s=19

From twitter - Ruby submitted evidence to simplify the GRA.
He complained that Waitrose didn't train staff to do his work that he could not do "when presenting female"

Boiledbeetle · 19/02/2024 14:58

"Breaking:
Chairman of @JohnLewisRetail, Dame Sharon White, has posted this on an internal staff forum.
She says: “when they go low, we must go high”.
How disgraceful to view concerned women and parents with such contempt.
This ideology is being pushed right from the top. "

https://twitter.com/JamesEsses/status/1759560835809063206?s=19

Boycott JL and Waitrose? : James Esses' latest Substack on John Lewis LGBTQIA++ 'Identity' mag
Boycott JL and Waitrose? : James Esses' latest Substack on John Lewis LGBTQIA++ 'Identity' mag
Chersfrozenface · 19/02/2024 15:02

JulesJules · 19/02/2024 14:48

twitter.com/Sorelle_Arduino/status/1759156897674903921?t=C5wd4Lo-EQKCduCsoZOZEw&s=19

From twitter - Ruby submitted evidence to simplify the GRA.
He complained that Waitrose didn't train staff to do his work that he could not do "when presenting female"

Ah, it looks as though Ruby is one of the "Women get it easy" crowd.

Very, very common.

CriticalCondition · 19/02/2024 15:02

The full sentence refers to work he couldn't do 'when presenting as female due to the physical limitations'.

Is that another way of saying he found his fake boobs got in the way?

Leafstamp · 19/02/2024 15:27

I've just cancelled MyWaitrose card and will not step foot in there again for the forseesable future.

Boiledbeetle · 19/02/2024 15:31

CriticalCondition · 19/02/2024 15:02

The full sentence refers to work he couldn't do 'when presenting as female due to the physical limitations'.

Is that another way of saying he found his fake boobs got in the way?

Do Waitrose have a bit where they cook chickens etc? Maybe he worked there and they were afraid he'd get them to close to the oven.

MrsJamin · 19/02/2024 15:42

Ruby's instagram is still open on instagram, all of his photos widely available. Also the photographer is on linkedin asking for people's feedback. I'd comment but I wouldn't want my whole network to be informed as to what I said!

CriticalCondition · 19/02/2024 15:47

Ruby's a lightweight. That teacher bloke in Canada had fake boobs so large he almost needed a wheelbarrow and he was using a circular saw FGS.

coldpizzalover · 19/02/2024 16:27

I was wondering how many of us it takes to make a difference? As a lesbian mother of children whose lives have been utterly disrupted and damaged by gender ideology, I am disgusted to be described as going ‘low’. My first Ocado delivery arrives tonight. How many of us will it take to get the message across?

TrainedByCatsToBeScathing · 19/02/2024 16:53

Describing women’s concerns as going low is disgusting. She really would rather the business fail and people lose their jobs than admit she got it wrong.

PronounssheRa · 19/02/2024 16:57

TrainedByCatsToBeScathing · 19/02/2024 16:53

Describing women’s concerns as going low is disgusting. She really would rather the business fail and people lose their jobs than admit she got it wrong.

And framing what they are doing as 'going high' is bonkers.

I'm afraid the board will be happy to sacrifice the business and the jobs that go with it. Madness

PronounssheRa · 19/02/2024 17:08

I'm also wondering what Peter Ruis is making of all this. He has just been brought in to lead the department store side and has been in the role for only a month. The search also continues for the replacement chair person.

PelicanPopcorn · 19/02/2024 17:15

Nice on John Lewis and Waitrose - you just gained a customer! Great to see a big brand standing up for one of the UK's smallest minorities. Well done JL and Waitrose - sticking by your values!
And don't worry I'm sure when the people on this thread realize what poor service awaits them elsewhere, or run low on the delicious Waitrose essentials brand - they'll come running back!!

SoupDragonsFriend · 19/02/2024 17:18

I really shouldn't have looked up 'go high' and 'go low' on urban dictionary and am still not sure what Sharon White was meaning exactly. I can't imagine it was any of those definitions.

I cancelled my WR account this afternoon.

duc748 · 19/02/2024 17:26

Was just going to say, the 'we go high, they go low' thing was Hillary Clinton, but, checking, it was Michele Obama (although referencing Clinton).

Goes without saying that this woman's use of the phrase in this context is disgraceful. And very bad business.

Flowers4me · 19/02/2024 17:32

Absolutely extraordinary that customers are being described as 'low'. Utter contempt for their customers, some of whom may have legitimate concerns for their safety and that of their children.

Helleofabore · 19/02/2024 17:43

I find the Essentials brand not very delicious at all... And expensive and poorer quality compared to the competition.

But, hey ho. Taste is subjective after all.

PronounssheRa · 19/02/2024 17:51

I find the service not so great either compared to the past.

Waitrose service is OK but service in my local JL is dire and recent reviews suggest this is common.

They are already on a downward trajectory reporting losses rather than profit so they need this strategy to work.

SoreAndTired1 · 19/02/2024 19:40

MrsJamin · 19/02/2024 15:42

Ruby's instagram is still open on instagram, all of his photos widely available. Also the photographer is on linkedin asking for people's feedback. I'd comment but I wouldn't want my whole network to be informed as to what I said!

You can create a fake linkedin account.

IGoWalkingAfterMidnight · 19/02/2024 20:08

I cancelled my JL account on the weekend when I saw this thread. Just read an article in The Telegraph about JLs response?

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