M&S apologises over trans employee in bra department (Telegraph)

[WimbledonWhites]

How many “cis” male members of staff do you suppose would approach teenage girls in the lingerie department?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/04/ms-apologises-over-trans-employee-in-bra-department/

https://archive.ph/nTDB9archive.ph/nTDB9

I read with interest. To me it seems the trans colleague approached the girl and offered to assist her with a bra fitting. That comes across as very predatory to me.

however it has been suggested that the colleague only asked if they needed any help and wasn’t necessarily looking to measure the girl as much as point her in the right direction ie to a female colleague.

m&S assert that the trans employee is not employed a bra fitter. Either way that person should not be anywhere near the lingerie department

Just because a small percentage of people have perceptual difficulties doesn’t mean the rest of society must abandon observable reality. We don’t redesign architecture for everyone just because a few people are colourblind.

“I can’t tell the difference between a man and a woman” isn’t an excuse to allow men to do what they want.

Using rare neurological conditions to justify eroding single-sex spaces is intellectually dishonest and disrespectful to those who do live with those conditions including vulnerable women with those conditions who for safety reasons are RELYING on women only spaces because they can’t be sure if someone predatory is near them.

Yes. And we also know very well that even with the most robust safeguarding harm does happen. The only answer to the whataboutery that is 'but lone females can also abuse' (and I understand you understand safeguarding etc) is 'and seatbelts don't prevent all injuries', and 'door and window locks don't prevent all break ins'.

ie. no law or policy is fully preventative of harm. I don't believe any person here is under any illusion that it is.

And women are DBS checked too. They don't tend to take it as a personal insult or complain about it.

And yes, we know we can't absolutely 100% eradicate all abuse any more than we can absolutely 100% eradicate people jumping red lights or doing 90mph. So what? Why is that relevant? Why is the female abuser relevant?

He doesn’t have to measure her, the interaction was enough. Clearly this girl would have refused and mum would have stopped it anyway.
Im so furious that so many people can’t see the issue. I really hope M&S are reviewing the cctv to see who he is going up to speak to.

Laws and safeguards can't absolutely 100% end all abuse. We know that and we don't pretend otherwise.

But we will sure as hell increase abuse if we create a sacred caste in safeguarding that can be self selected into, make a monster of anyone who points out the bleeding obvious problem, and gaslight women and young girls into thinking that a) women abuse at anywhere near the rate that men do, and b) that instead of using their instincts for self preservation with creepy men, they instead accept "pushback" on these "assumptions".

My conspiracy theory is that it got turbo-charged by the Trump team who needs more female votes. To do that the had to create a worse thing than a man who either grabs pussies or boasts about it.

All this drama has now led to Trump being a “protector” of women’s rights.

This story popped up on my FB feed. From Pink News. The comments really were an eye-opener.
'So no-one's ever seen a tall woman?'
'If that was me, I'd have made sure my daughter treated the assistant with respect!'
'I'm a 6 ft 2 woman and am often asked if I'm in the wrong restroom(sic)'.
Etc etc
Anyone supporting the mum is of course just a nasty hateful old bigot.

And the likelyhood of a staff member in M&S walking up to a random customer offering to locate another staff member to act as a personal shopper is ?

□ Logical or likely ( I am always being volunteered by colleague for tasks which are not expected as part of my role)

□ Not a chance in hell or unlikely ( I dont allow a colleagues to volunteered me for tasks which are not expected as part of my role)

I will bet that M&S dont need a mass staff survey to work out which box will get the most ticks

Rob Rinder, on the Jeremy Vine show (I’m waiting for the washing to finish, don’t judge!) has just suggested that the 14year old was “probably ok” with the situation and it was the mother who objected and escalated the situation. Darryl someone, a guest, has said we should all be aware of the sensitivities around this sort of thing - for and on behalf of the trans woman… Words fail me etc. There was some pushback but unfortunately it came from Carole Malone so did not present a particularly cohesive argument.

It makes me laugh that 'gender critical' activists continue to pretend that they're not an eliminationist movement when they're trying to get a trans woman sacked from her job for doing her job. As I have said for many years, it's all about the seething lizard-brain hate.

It's no different from those fine individuals who don't like to be around black people or someone they see as gay. At no point was it about 'legitimate concerns', just hate, raw seething hate.

that’s Pricknews all over!

This did not get turbo charged by Trump. It's lazy to blame him.

The Dems pushed this all of their own accord, against all sense and reason. I would love to understand why, though I feel the Pritzkers had a huge hand in it.

Interesting. They came into my (posh private) school in 1983 to do a talk and then offered an interview to any girl who wanted one for their precursor to a summer internship. None of the girls like me who wore glasses and braces got offered a job. Just the pretty ones.

Elimination movement Bee? Come on, that's a bit OTT
But if it makes you laugh.......

You people need to learn that you can't create reality by dictating it. I realise that that premise is what your entire movement rests on - that you can make it true if you say it - but it's a total nonsense and it's why you're losing and will continue to lose.

Leave teenage girls alone and creep off.

Exactly !
Disgusting isn’t it

Does it make you feel good to take the side of the predatory male over the vulnerable teenage girl?

We all have the measure of you by now you know.

Trump is vile. But that doesn’t mean we can’t agree with him on some topics.

I deplore the current assumption that if you agree with someone on one issue you are somehow tainted by any other views they may hold, even if you strongly disagree with those views.

Pro-Palestinian? Does that mean you supported the 2023 Hamas rapes and murders? Of course not.

Pro-Israeli? Does that mean you necessarily support the starvation of civilians? Of course not.

Pro Gender Realism? Does that mean you align yourself on everything with neo-Nazis who are also gender realists? Of course not.

good grief, are you ok? I mean, seriously?

Aha! The first 'seething' of the day from the smirking insect.

Those who lean left REALLY have to start taking responsibility for the messes they themselves have made.

Too many people have decided they are the 'good guys' and have turned their brains off to the consequences of their actions.

This is lazy and morally wrong.

It makes me laugh that 'gender critical' activists continue to pretend that they're not an eliminationist movement when they're trying to get a trans woman sacked from her job for doing her job. As I have said for many years, it's all about the seething lizard-brain hate.

It's no different from those fine individuals who don't like to be around black people or someone they see as gay. At no point was it about 'legitimate concerns', just hate, raw seething hate.

It's about men. No other male employee would get away with approaching a teenage girl in the underwear department and cause her distress so why should this one?

Reader's Note:

The above post is also an example of that power dynamic that I referred to just upthread. Particularly in reference to the win-win scenario of crossing boundaries. This post is actually a good example to demonstrate crossing boundaries and how female people of all ages are shamed into allowing such violations of boundaries.

Of course, if a male person had not overstepped the well recognised boundaries of approaching a 14 year old girl in the bra dept, no one would be objecting to this particular person 'doing their job'. The dismissal of this person 'just doing their job' obviously shows the commenter to have not read the information out there about what happened. A male person who was allocated to work on the floor above yet came to talk to a female teenager in the bra department is not someone 'just doing their job'.

The 'seething lizard-brain hate' could be said to come from male people who fail to understand the privacy and dignity needs of 14 year old girl in the bra department. But really, that 'seething lizard-brain hate' and 'just hate, raw seething hate' is outstanding hyperbole from a male poster who fails to understand much about female people.

There is NO comparison between racism or homophobia and this situation. Both of these are classed as illegitimate discrimination. A male person approaching a 14 year old girl in the bra department is a discussion based on sex class. The legitimate discrimination against male people allowable for the protection of female people.

Again, this above post recycles falsehoods and fallacies.

Even if this man had not come anywhere near a young girl in the bra department, it's not accurate to say he was 'doing his job'.

He wasn't working in the lingerie department. He was supposed to be on an entirely different floor. Far away from women's bras and knickers.