It appears that after much public grumbling about their fitting rooms being accessible to both women and those men who pretend to be women, the clothing chain Primark has decided that women deserve the space of a sex segregated changing room environment. Primark has got a lot of criticism from women over the issue of allowing men, sometimes pretty unscrupulous men, in areas where women may be trying on clothes.

Someone on social media has put up an image, which can be found here purportedly from a Primark branch showing that there was now a proper separation between men and women in this shop. I’m very pleased to see this development as the decision by the company to institute gender neutral changing rooms has done nothing to protect women’s dignity nor safety.

As I said I’m pleased that Primark has made this decision. However, in my view it does not go far enough. I would prefer that the sign read ‘female’ rather than ‘women’ only for the following reasons. Girls are not yet women and are therefore not covered by the term ‘women’ on this sign although in most practical situations they are treated as one and the same. The other reason why I would prefer to see the word female used instead of the word woman is that it removes a loophole that the male LARPers could use in order to access the female changing area. One of these male to female LARPers could quite legitimately make the claim that they ‘identify’ as a woman and therefore be allowed access to changing cubicles very very close to where women and girls are in a state of undress. Using the word ‘female’ would remove that loophole and ensure that only females could use these particular facilities.

Yes we should celebrate Primark doing the right thing, it is after all a win for common sense and women’s safety and security. But by changing the sign to read ‘female’ they could do the right thing even better.