More and more places like swimming pools, gyms, etc. are moving to mixed gender changing facilities. Has anyone else noticed this? They usually have stalls for actually changing in but the general area is mixed and public. Does that bother you or do you prefer it?
I bring it up as my local sports centre I go swimming at it referbishing their changing rooms and going mixed. At the moment they have only done less than half and the rest is closed. That leaves just 4 private stalls one of which is for disabled. The last two times Iāve been I couldnāt get one and just changed in the public area, but I was the only female and I expect many would have found that situation uncomfortable. So are these places taking the wrong approach?
I donāt mind, mixed changing has been around years where I used to swim. As long as thereās cubicals I couldnāt care less.
Gyms??? I donāt know as Iām not into going to a gym.
I wouldnāt be comfortable with changing in a public area and would wait for a cubicle or Iād be just going to the loo. That all seems like a faff, so it would probably put me off going all together.
Iāve changed your category from Sex tips & talk to Off topic chat just so that its in the right place
I prefer mixed changing rooms with cubicles for changing in. I really hate changing in public and will always use a cubicle even if it means using a toilet cubicle to at least get my underwear on! Itās also a lot less stressful and itās more inclusive for trans and non binary people. Iād also guess that itās easier for families especially if itās a single mum with a male child or a single dad with a female child.
I believe many places go through phases of trying mixed changing rooms/toilets etc depending on political stances at the time.
In an ideal world everyone should feel safe and secure about themselves and their surroundings to be able to change where they want. In reality we are all human and have so many insecurities about how we look and who is looking.
There is also of course the safety aspect. I know as a father I would never let my children (although they are all grown up now) change in a mixed changing room. I grew up with far too many scandalās regarding predators and ptverts to ever risk it.
Sorry to bring the negatives into the threat but I am just trying to be real.
The gym I go to (well pay for and drive byā) still has male and female changing rooms, no cubicles
The gym my son goes to (and actually goes to) is mixed changing but all cubicles, no āfreeā areas to get changed
Must say, Iām fairly liberal in views but Iām not convinced mixed open changing areas a great thingā¦.itās only going to discourage people to go
This is true. Women can be as lecherous as men, but being realistic, men are more of a concern than women are to women, children and other men.
I do think this country could do with being less prudish, but I think it should be in places that are for that purpose like a nudist beach, not changing rooms.
I donāt think the OP was suggesting that swimming pools and gyms had mixed open changing rooms where everyone wandered around naked! I think the discussion is about mixed changing rooms with lockable individual cubicles as an alternative to separate gender changing rooms with no cubicles. I canāt see any gym or pool suggesting that we all shower and change in an open area together, there would be uproar! The fact that @Samantha0 chose to change in an open area was because there were not enough changing rooms available due to the gym having not completed the refurbishment. Which is fine if she is happy with that but personally I would have waited for an available room and been rather angry with the establishment for not providing suitable temporary facilities! Generally the open areas are for lockers, hanging coats and leaving bags and shoes and then you go into a cubicle to get changed.
When my daughter started swimming lessons at Primary school I was the only male who volunteered with the walk to the pool and then the changing. Obvious it was cubicles, I didnāt go in to help my daughter because she had to start learning to do things on her own.
None of the other mothers had an issue with me standing around outside the cubicle.
The first time we went to Center Parc we used a family cubicle to change, really donāt see the issue.
Toilets I can understand why women could be concerned (although I have had women walk past me in the gents to use the loo because the queue was so long for their toilets).
A busy swimming pool ā¦ why would it be a problem?
To be clear. There are personal cubicles but most are out of action. But there is a large changing area (there will be two) that can accommodate about 20 people. Thatās where I changed with a handful of men. Once theyāve finished rebuilding there will be more space.
Iām not sure now, maybe i misunderstood! I would definitely be against that too! Iāve been in lots of mixed gender changing rooms but never come across an open one, they all had cubicles with lockable doors - like a toilet, doors that went all the way to the floor with no gaps so felt totally safe and there werenāt people wandering around naked. I just remember the trauma of being made to go into the mens changing room with my dad as a girl because my dad didnāt trust me to be by myself in the ladies because I was too young. I just remember being stared at by naked men in the showers, it was mortifying! I think well designed mixed gender changing rooms would be safer and more comfortable all round. But definitely not mixed open ones, i would not feel safe or comfortable with that but maybe Iām just a bit of a prude!
@Kitty-Cat01 Not wanting to be naked around naked people doesnāt make you a prude. I think theres a time and place for that and changing rooms isnāt it.
I myself am not prude (not pointing the finger at anyone here) and I would not be phased by mixed changing rooms (with or without cubicles) for adults. I would tend to be a tad discreet and keep facing my locker (as I used to in my male only gym changing room with no cubicles) until I had my underwear on. I would then continue to get dressed as normal and be on my way.
I have holidayed in Europe at Centre Parcs and the concept there is much different to the UK. They are very open to mixed changing. Itās a different culture isnāt it.
I still think though that there should be āfamilyā changing rooms with cubicles for say, single parent families for example, because of what @Kitty-Cat01 has said. Our children need to feel safe.
As an aside, where I live now, most of the shopping centres have female attendants cleaning the toilets. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Iām so used to it now, itās normal for me.
I donāt like these changing rooms as a man as I always feel I get treated as some kind of Monster.
Just the other day I was at the cinema, where there is 1 toilet downstairs thatās now mixed.
As it was the closest, I went in with my son and the woman in front of the mirror, clutched her belongings to her chest, looked me up and down and went out in disgust.
Not all men are horrible, yet I feel in all these new mixed facilities, we all get treated like it.
The swimming pool is the same and I hate it.
I know women feel threatened and should feel safe anywhere, so just donāt have this political fad and go back to single sex rooms or have 3. 2 single, 1 mixed and the choice is actually there, rather than being forced.
) still has male and female changing rooms, no cubicles