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

Well, yeah

Gosh that's a lot of deletions you're working up @Joanneken

You need to cool the jets

I dont think his mum will let him dye his hair yet.

You just want to belong somewhere or to something.

The projection in that statement there is really something to behold. And you sound like a teenager who's had a bad day, because the cool kids didn't want to play with you. And all you have are insults, and they're are like something out of a bad film made in 2016. And it's hot. And it's half term.

I understand it's frustrating that the grift has run out of road, but activists have always been pushing for the acceptance of something that was never going to be acceptable in the long run. Perhaps you should stop railing at people and try to do something productive with your life. Beating your head against a wall, trying to make people believe in your own special world view, is never going to get you anywhere.

And one day you will grow up and wish that you had done something useful with your life. It's very sad.

Thing is, many of us belong to too many wheres and too many things and too many people.

We have partners, and children, and siblings, and parents, and friends, and careers, and hobbies, and groups we belong to and events we support. We are linked into the world in so many ways. It's women's work, so you don't tend to see it, but there's a whole network of female connections, and energy, and care and time taken, that keeps families and groups and society together.

I think there should be separate changing rooms for women (as defined by the Supreme Court), for men (ditto) and perhaps ones where there is good reason to be accompanied by someone else (say a disability).

I cannot see though how only offering mixed changing rooms is anything other than bad business practice.

Ah yes, the 'I was only obeying orders' excuse. The underlying point is that he told a woman that it was perfectly safe and had her chucked out of the store for asking a perfectly reasonable question.

Was that prescribed by head office? Or was it all his own idea?

One could equally say 'go into gents loo if you are a biological male, go into the cubicle, lock the door, do what you have to, leave and go about your day.'

Somehow, I think you'd be outraged if anyone did say that to you.

Could you explain how you know her motives? While you're at it, a lot of us would like to know the next EuroMillions lottery numbers. I'd suggest that she was trying to get proof of what had been said because she was concerned that the new guidance had apparently changed nothing. I'd be grateful to any legally minded souls who can confirm that it isn't just a case of saying 'right, it's all unisex now ha ha.'

Also, who decided that women couldn't enjoy shopping for clothes any more? It used to be fun. Now it's lock your door and go about your business? Jeez.

Lots of women have issues anout their body, scars lack of confidence etc they value other womend opinions so will ask friends what they think you cant do that if some block is standing there whilst you ask about your swimming costumes fit. Are bra fittings also going to be uni sex?

I agree.

And would add that the decisions to e.g. get rid of single-sex changing rooms, introduce pronoun badges, etc. are made by people who were once this man, but then got promoted to a point where they could make a difference to the way the company is run.

I remember how much camaraderie there used to be in open plan women's changing rooms back in the day. Shopping was fun. And there were individual changing rooms within those for anyone who wanted privacy.

It strikes me that many of the "it's humiliating to film a man blatantly being dismissive to women" crowd are the same ones who use the "evidence or it didn't happen" mantra as well.

Not all mind you, but there's a fairly large overlap in that particular Venn diagram.

The underlying point is that by filming and uploading that clip on to social media she has abused and publicly humiliated a retail employee. Are you happy for that to happen to one of your relatives?

Would you like a ladder for that reach?

You must be pretty desperate to equate not following correct processes for something that could, at worst, literally result in mass casualties to incorrect details about changing rooms being provided on a website.

Unless the shop itself has a sign saying the changing rooms are female only, which no evidence has been provided to suggest is the case, then regardless of what the website is anyone who wants to use them would see they were labelled mixed gender (or whatever phrasing they use) and make an informed decision about whether they feel safe using them BEFORE they go in. Nobody is going to die as a result of not being able to try on a pair of shorts.

I gather and I’m only taking this from a post on X the stores website (which I haven’t checked myself) does claim to have fitting rooms (men) and fitting rooms (women).

https://x.com/chris_cross1498/status/2059717800751444382?s=46&t=ZX_bLozRqm8etdGICMcAvA

Would you be happy for one of your family members to be publicly humiliated like this?

If the employee had been a woman would that have changed your view?

"Nobody is going to die as a result of not being able to try on a pair of shorts."

Exactly.
So why do the men need to be in there in the first place?

Leaving aside the "nobody is going to die for shorts" quip, why are you making women do all the work to be aware and to protect themselves? Why can we not - as we used to be able to do - walk through a section for women, right to the back of the lingerie department of an M&S store, and still have to make sure that there are no men in there?

If this guidance does pass into legislation, that might signal the start of the mixed-gender spaces revolution. It has been interesting to watch the slow reveal of this happening from the side-lines. I think the word 'foot', 'self' and 'shot' come to mind.

Stratford M&S are advertising separate womens and men's changing rooms on their website (screenshot from today)

@tokennamechange women and girls are at 9 times more risk of sexual assault in mixed sex spaces. It's absolutely the responsibility of the manager to know that and follow the law.

Instead he claims that a mixed sex space is 'perfectly safe'. It's not just a difference of opinion, it's ignorance that puts women and girls in danger.

Unisex changing rooms put women at danger of sexual assault, data reveals | The Independent | The Independent

And that's from the Independent, so no-one can bleat "Oh, that's a right wing rag!"

The issue is who they consider to be women. Like that’s their choice to make.