M&S Colchester claim mixed changing is ‘completely safe’ for women.

[PeachOctopus]

How is it that M&S can continue to flaunt the high court ruling and do not offer single sex changing rooms?

Abouterf in this video confronts the store manager and is fobbed off and told that it’s head offices policy:

Colchester @marksandspencer I asked where the women’s changing room was to try on swimwear. Manager Andrew (he/ his /him) says gender neutral changing areas are “completely safe” for women and girls. For asking him this question, he told me to leave the store.

Abouterf x account

Why is it safe for women (and my 11y old daughter) to get changed in mixed changing rooms, particularly ones that have become a recognised tool for pervy men to have their fetish affirmed, or worse, but normal men aren't safe and have to have their own changing room?

And why the dual choice for men? Could it possibly be they mean aforementioned pervy men are welcome in the mixed changing rooms, because this fits with someone at M&S senior leadership ideological position (or own cross dressing fetish, or backed into a corner as have fallen for the ideology and transed their own kid) - but they know that the vast majority of normal men who buy their suits and shirts in M&S, and represent a significant part of their revenue, wouldn't be happy having to strip off next to young girls trying on bras and would go to Next instead.

How hypocritical.

If mixed sex changing is perfectly safe, why can't the transwomen share with the men and we can have a women's only changing room because of privacy and dignity?

I don't buy clothes without trying them on, and I don't use mixed sex changing rooms.

Their loss.

I'll just shop elsewhere. And that means I'll buy ds' kit elsewhere too. No point in going to M&S when I can't get everything I want in one place. Next is good for both. 😊

I agree, I have completely switched to Next for girl's uniform, girl's underwear, boy's uniform, boys underwear, boy's sixth form suits, boy"s DJs for leavers/uni, boy's school shoes, DH's shirts and shoes, towels and bathmats, Xmas gifts for work secret santa and fleeces for skiing and skorts for girl's PE and loads of other things I used to get in M&S but now get in Next. If they go the same way I'll use Amazon pretty much exclusively. This was after the cyber attack shitshow when you couldn't order online or do click and collect for months and couldn't return things, but means its not a big deal at all for me to never go into an M&S again. That and the fact they've closed my local one. Wonder how alienating half (or more) their core demographic of older women and mothers is going for them?

I'm very uncomfortable with shop staff being confronted, filmed and posted on the internet like this.

Yes, it could be seen as aggressive and invasive - therefore counter-productive.

Agree. It's not the individual shop worker's fault. It's the people at the top of the tree that need confronting. Not sure how that could be achieved though.

Have M&S learned nothing from Primark?

Primark got some terrible publicity following a customer's experience in 2022 https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-09-26/primark-reviews-unisex-changing-rooms-as-men-walk-in-on-woman

After that the chain changed its policy to having women only plus all genders fitting rooms.
https://corporate.primark.com/en-gb/a/news/corporate-news/important-changes-to-fitting-room-uk

Fucks sake, its not even about just safety.
My DH and DS are no danger to women but they shouldn't be in women only spaces and wouldn't even think about going into one.
What about dignity, privacy and just basic decency????

I don’t like the idea of staff being confronted and videoed either. However, it does draw attention to the use of camera phones, which are a big part of the problem when it comes to Unisex changing rooms.

Absolutely. There is absolutely nothing he can do in this situation. Close the changing room whilst she gets changed? Like she's Princess Margaret!

No one is getting changed in front of anyone, M&S gender neutral changing rooms have floor to ceiling lockable doors with plenty of space. And unlike many shops, there are always staff around.

It's not 1988 - standing in the corner of C&A open-plan changing rooms trying to cover yourself. You can strip naked and no one would know.

It's not a women's only space, it's a mixed gender fitting room. It's for everyone. Lock the door, get changed, unlock the door, go about your day.

Yes, most of the responses I have seen to this have been sympathy for the employee who has no control over the policy and is doing his best to be polite in the face of aggression. The poster was plainly not asked to leave the store "just" for asking a question but for aggressive badgering and filming people without their consent. Disingenuous and counter-productive.

I agree. Do the people who film this ‘content’ really believe the M&S policy decision makers work on the shop floor?

It’s a self fulfilling endeavour because the colleague can’t do anything other than repeat the company policy when a camera is being pointed at them.

Tell me this isn't simply a men's rights movement, when the men have a changing room labelled as "men's fitting room" in the menswear department yet women have a "fitting room" in the women's department.

The statistics for assault/voyeurism in mixed sectors changing rooms are available for everyone to see - why do M&S not see that welcoming men into the female changing rooms is a crappy idea?

I agree. I'm all for single sex changing rooms but the person filming this only succeeded in making themselves look like a silly berk, IMO.

Repeating "why should I have to change in front of a man", when there's nothing and no-one forcing you to change in front of a man, to someone who has no control over the situation is just totally daft.

She needs to take it up with head office, not harass store staff for social media points.

No Way would I use a mixed gender changing room. Ever.
Any shop that insists on this nonsense loses my business.

Looking closer, it appears this "Abouterf" is sharing personal information about this employee, including his sexuality, which is utterly irrelevant. Hateful, harassing behaviour.

The utter fucking cheek of a man telling women and girls that they’re under no threat from men.
Between this and M & S allowing male weirdos to leave online reviews for women’s underwear, I hope they go to the wall.

if indeed it is a mixed SEX fitting room then that should be made very obvious and M&S should state that as policy they are unable to provide single SEX fitting rooms so customers can choose to shop there or not.
In the 2 M&S I visit most frequently I can see how one would be safe but the other potentially not so it does depend on store lay out

We have mixed changing, each has a lock and the staff supervise the whole process. Rarely many grown men in there as the men’s clothing (and more changing rooms) are downstairs but children’s clothing is next to lingerie so you’ll often see 9-12 year old lads in there with their mums (obviously little ones too but they are subject to single sex facilities anyway). I’ve never felt unsafe at all, in fact they feel more safe that women only ones with thin curtains and no staff!

by the way, if there’s a queue I have gone downstairs and used the other fitting rooms. Helpful in my opinion

I saw a few of the usuals popping up on social media with their homophobia in response to this.

Imagine just going into your work and having to deal with your personal life being posted all over social media.

Same here. I would not let my daughters go in either.if they were still teenagers.
Who thinks these things up anyway? Why would anyone risk the safety and privacy of women and girls?

What would he do if anyone reported a man acting inappropriately in the changing rooms? He's demonstrated that he dismisses concerns.

He should have taken the time to sit down with her and go through how to make a complaint. Its not difficult.

I know the customer service at M&S is dreadful now, but surely they get some training, or have common sense. Its not as if he was very young.