Should men be banned from standing outside changing rooms in lingerie stores? A mother makes a case
A mother has sparked a debate online after saying she felt it was “inappropriate” for men to be waiting outside changing rooms in lingerie stores for women.
In a detailed post on London-based parenting forum Mumsnet, a user named @Woolywolf shared a story of her 15-year-old daughter who felt “uncomfortable” after seeing men wait outside the changing rooms for their partners.
“I went to Bravissimo yesterday with my 15-year-old daughter,” she wrote on Sunday.
“This was the first time my daughter had been to a bra fitting at this store and I could tell she was feeling uncomfortable telling her size to the staff and holding a handful of bras in front of these men,” the mother wrote.
She likewise mentioned that it seems “unnecessary” for men to be there.
“If my husband had been there, he probably would have taken himself off to a different shop while we went to a bra shop as he obviously wouldn’t need to be there,” she wrote.
She added: “I know there’s no shame in shopping for bras/it shouldn’t be embarrassing, it just seems a bit unnecessary for men to be there.”
The comments section below the mother’s post has quickly filled with a mix of reactions, ranging from the sympathetic to the dismissive.
One person accused the woman of “overreacting”, as another suggested she could have gone to another store if her daughter was so overly “uncomfortable”.
“You’re overreacting. They couldn’t see anything, probably couldn’t hear anything and if they did hear snippets, probably didn’t care,” wrote one person.
But another Mumsnet member related to the young girl’s position and sympathised. They wrote: “I do get where you come from. A young girl is going to feel awkward hanging bras over to be seen in the full view of men.”
One person also suggested a solution. They wrote that the mother could request “the shop to move the seating area away from the changing rooms, especially if it's just a curtain between trying on a bra and a men's seating area.”
Another person shared an experience about how men’s existence in the area “depends on how they behave”.
“I was in the lingerie department of M&S the other day and there was this gross old bloke just loitering and really obviously watching all the women going around picking up bras, that is not ok,” they wrote.
“But someone dealing with kids or on their phone minding their own business is fine.”
“At Bravissimo, we want all our customers to feel celebrated, supported and uplifted,” Bravissimo said in a statement to The Independent. “Our waiting areas are always open for our customers to relax comfortably, before their feel good bra fitting. Some of our customers choose to bring their family or friends to wait with them, and our waiting area is always available to them. Our fitting rooms are all private and out of sight of the waiting area to give all our customers total privacy.”
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