Primark

[LadyBird1973]

Was in there to today and was very pleased to see the changing rooms are 'women' on one side and 'all genders' on the other. It seems that Primark have been paying attention to women's concerns.
As you turn into the women's area, there's also a big notice up reminding customers that these facilities are women only.

I don't know how well they police this, irl but it is reassuring that expectations are clearly laid out and women can therefore object if men try to access these rooms, in the knowledge the stores own policy will support them.

Other retailers take note! None of you are going doing so well right now that you can afford to make the shopping experience less comfortable for women (who let's face it, are more likely than men to be clothes shopping).

Hooray!

But, how long before the 'all genders' types start bleating about not feeling safe with men, but then nobody saying that men need to #bekind and inclusive.

Well done Primark.

I will spread the word!

The women's changing rooms are accessible to "both cis and trans women."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/21/primark-installs-women-signs-outside-changing-rooms-amid-backlash/

That's the thing.

If Primark policy is TWAW, then any man who says he's a woman can go into the space marked 'for women only'.

Because as far as Primark stores are concerned, he is a woman

Bullshit. Unless the sign says 'Biological Women Only' it's a mixed sex dressing room.

I'm still not going into that store if Primark thinks the word 'women' means women + a certain kind of man.

I thought that by saying women they meant biological women, not anyone who just says they are. Because most people understand the word woman to mean, well, woman. The biological bit is taken as read.
I will be disappointed if this isn't what Primark are saying.

Excuse italics - have fat fingers

My husband was in an 'all genders' cubicle in a nearly empty Primark changing room yesterday. A random man pulled open the cubicle curtain when DH was in his pants. DH was unimpressed and told him to fuck off and the bloke said he was looking for someone. The reality of 'all genders' changing is that could easily have been a woman or child in there. They are not safe.

So all of Primark's changing rooms are mixed sex. But they've tried a wee slight of hand which has backfired when they've had to clarify exactly what they mean.

Stonewall law is pretty extensive when it comes to enabling male predators. Once upon a time the social contract was enough to ensure that people respected single sex spaces and women's safety. The relentless attacks from the trans lobby have resulted in creepy men feeling very confident in barging in where they're both unwelcome and often dangerous.
Hence the awful stats about filming, groping and perving on women in mixed sex spaces.

Where are the protests outside of Primark?

I am cautiously optimistic about this. It doesn't solve the twaw problem, but it does at least reduce the complete free for all of mixed sex changing rooms. There will be a lot of pervy, twatty males who aren't willing to actually trot out "but I am a woman" so there is a marginal improvement in safety.

The next step, which honestly isn't down to high street retailers with minimum wage staff, is changing law and culture so that we go back to 'women" meaning women, as opposed to women plus lady feelz.

Well, that’s what he was looking for wasn’t it?

(not your husband, I mean)

Step in the right direction. When men are inconvenienced, they'll pay more attention. And it'll make a man in the women's stand out even more.

Hope other stores do this now.

To be clear - the women only section is expressly for Women and trans women. This doesn't clear anything up, it's worse.

Surely this has as much to do with the fact that the cubicles only have shitty curtains instead of proper locking doors as with the question of what constitutes a woman. Long before this was even a question I felt uncomfortable in changing rooms where you couldn't lock the door - I've had small kids whip the curtain open, and once a member of staff who was "just tidying up" 🤨

I’m a man and can’t see how this inconveniences me at all - I’m happy to do anything that improves women’s safety, especially when it’s of no consequence to me.

More women clothes shop than men, so there being more women’s changing overall isn’t a problem.

So how many complaints did they receive? How many girls were ogled, learned at, touched, scared by men in the women’s changing areas?

I was last in a Primark years ago when it became clear that the allowed men into the ladies (I think they announced it didn’t they?). I asked the assistant at the tills what she thought of that and she hadn’t heard and was shocked (she said she’d pull any man out if she saw one ).

Pervy men know primark is a free for all, Top shop was the same before it shut down. The Leeds stores are where the cities perverts go to harass and try and film teenage girls - it is a fairly well known problem. I challenged a shop assistant on it and asked why there was a man roaming the women's changing area and the poor woman burst into tears and told me she wasn't allowed to stop them, she was shaking. You have to order on line these days - which pushes up the prices as so many items are not resold after return btu what else can we do.

The Primark I was in had lockable doors, so maybe this is something they are doing to help keep pervy men out. Primark is usually full of kids, so they really do need to make sure their changing areas are safe for girls.