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Hell in a Handbasket: Ikea's Manland

By Rain Noe - September 23, 2011

in Object Culture

Ikea has converted the Boyfriend Bench into a fully furnished space. Earlier this month the Ikea in Sydney, Australia ran a four-day trial of Manland, a short-term area for males to park themselves while the missus goes shopping unfettered by the unfortunate modern syndrome of Male Whining. Something like a G-rated Man Cave, Manland is stocked with issues of GQ, free hot dogs, X-Boxes, the game on the telly, and gaming tables both electronic and analog.

In the past week, Manland has gotten tons of international positive press. Am I the only one who thinks this idea reeks of the sad and self-willing infantilization of the modern male? The title of this video on YouTube is "Ikea Introduces Nursery for Men." Perhaps they should hang a gigantic pair of shiny car keys from the ceiling while a servo arm makes it dangle and jangle.

Years ago men were supposed to be able to withstand hardship and provide. That meant doing things like going out in crappy weather and performing hard manual labor. But nowadays we're too soft to stroll through a climate-controlled environment lined with soft things to sit on without arguing with our wives. Hell in a handbasket, folks.

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Chris Jackamo

13 years ago

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I disagree with the author of this article. The "infantilization of the modern male" is the fact that we are dragged to go shopping in the first place. If my grandmother had asked my grandfather ( a lumberjack/ copper miner) to go shopping with her he would have told her to get him another whiskey on the rocks and don't bother him until dinner was on the table.

This is not a statement about modern men but more a statement about modern women being so useless that men are force to spend what little time they have away from work helping women do what they are suppose to be doing while we are at work.

Personally I carry my kindle and a PSP with me when I go out with the wife (on my one day off every two weeks) so that I can plop down on a bench and try to enjoy my day while still being on call to help her with what she wants.

I applaud this and think it should be everywhere.
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James Selkirk

13 years ago

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Why would you go to Ikea, or anywhere, if you didn't want to be there? If my wife wants to shop for cushions, shoe rack, or whatever else then she can go do that. There's no reason for me to go unless a) she needs help carrying things, b) I care what she buys, or c) I also require something from Ikea. If it's just a matter of sharing chores then one of us will do chore X while another does chore Y. I'll do the grocery shopping while you do get the Ikea goods. That way we can spend less time on chores!

If you a couple is so co-dependent that they must do everything together then I think there is a larger problem.
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Luke

13 years ago

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@Reality
You really ought to take a more careful look at what I wrote.

First, there is an enormous multitude of ways we can define and label ourselves. You're not stuck in just one group; rather you belong to many, each with their own characteristics. For example, you can both be an anarcho-syndicalist and enjoy gardening in your spare time. Neither category has anything to do with the other, but both can each describe some of your values.

Second, note that I explicitly narrowed it down to men with some degree of disposable income in industrialized nations, and even then I tossed in "more or less." How much fuzzier can you get?

That out of the way, I feel it's worth mentioning that you wouldn't catch me dead using a persona board. It's too painfully subject to convenience sampling, confirmation bias, expectation bias, and the designer's own ability to conjure up a story. Toss in absolutely no means to extract credible empirical data from cases where personas are used, and in my book it's mystical hogwash on par with the Golden Ratio.
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i_kia

13 years ago

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They had me at 'free hot dogs'!
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Adam

13 years ago

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As much as I like picking out neon colored trash cans and fiber board desks, this man cave is intriguing. In fact, if this were in the nyc one I might stop buy just to check it out. The only thing sexist about this is the lack of a chick-cave next to it.
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trialex

13 years ago

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Why is choice a bad thing?

It is not compulsory - if somebody WANTS to use it they are welcome to.

If my partner wants to look at cushions or something and I don't want to, everyone will be happier if I can spend the time doing something I find more entertaining.

(I live less than 1km away from this Ikea, so I'd just go home, but whatever)
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Kahukid

13 years ago

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If shopping with your partner through Ikea is considered manly, then the situation is worse than the infantilization of men: neither shopping nor playing video games is a manly pursuit.
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Reality

13 years ago

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I don't know why people are so offended by this. It seems like a fun statement and there are plenty of men out there who will use it. My idea of hell is walking at half pace (you can never get into full stride because of the layout and amount of people in there) for 3 hours looking at stuff i really dont need.

@Luke I'd love to see any persona board you put together seeing as there are only two types of men out there. pah.
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powers

13 years ago

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Or, perhaps the "infantilization of the modern male" is actually being made "to stroll through a climate-controlled environment lined with soft things to sit on" instead of what he would rather be doing "like going out in crappy weather and performing hard manual labor". Just a thought.
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Matt

13 years ago

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Now they just need the 'Chick Pen'.
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El Presidente'

13 years ago

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Sounds like someone has some relationship issues.

Granted it's not like there is a "Nursery for Women" at the Bass pro shop......but I bet some women would find that appealing. Taking a break from activities that a spouse doesn't want to do reduces the strain on the relationship. A litte decompression time never hurt.
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Luke

13 years ago

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The way I see it, reasonably affluent men (that is, those that don't need to do a lot of hard physical labor just to survive and provide) in industrialized nations more or less fall into one of two groups.

You've got the group of men who guzzle down crappy, fatty foods because vegetables are perceived as girly, who feel the need to slap "man" upon everything as a label, who revel in raunchy objectification of women. It's a group that sees anything feminine as a threat and an affront to their own masculinity.

Then there's the group that accepts the increasingly more fuzzy gap between what's thought of as masculine and what's feminine. The sort of guy that, if he hasn't tried it, may be open to trying things like manscara or guyliner. The sort that carries a messenger bag, tote bag, or man-purse. One that values intellectual pursuits and the arts. The sort that values design and would enjoy furnishing a house.

In other words, the former group is reactionary and sees the latter group as a bunch of effeminate weenies, while the latter group is progressive and sees the former group as a bunch of juvenile idiots.

Clearly, Manland is meant for the former group. As such, it makes perfect business sense. If you're going to be a whiny little kid that gets in the way of a potential customer making a purchase, might as well be treated like a whiny little kid.
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Dan Schmitt

13 years ago

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Actually this isn't a new concept. Paco Underhill who researches how we shop has noted years ago how retailers like Victoria's Secret and other home decor retailers come up with similar places to park men or keep them entertained while their partners shop. He notes that the best shoppers tend to be women with female friends, then women who are alone. Those who interfere? Men and children. It's all about the bottom line.
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peayq

13 years ago

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I agree with Tom. It's not like males are forced into this room upon entry anyway... just a friendly gesture of care towards those who might be less interested/motivated/in the mood for shopping right now.
They had special playrooms for children for years and no one seemed to care, but believe me, children are no less interested in how their room will end up looking like. And they too want to participate in family matters, not to be left in some pen with fluffy balls...
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Tom Baker

13 years ago

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C77 would be the last place I would have expected a wholly innovative brand making a whimsical 4-day pop up display (that got them leagues of earned media) to get hated on. IKEA aren't suggesting that all men hang out here while their wives shop, rather 'we understand' in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Quite simply by being overt about it, you're meant to 'get' the joke.

Meant to, anyway.
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Gabe

13 years ago

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I'm not the only one who finds this offensive, right?
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Julia

13 years ago

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I am completely with you -- how obnoxious! When my bf and I are running errands together, like hell he will sit and eat hot dogs unless I'm relaxing with him! Frankly, he won't want to -- he's a real man, who contributes to our relationship and home without whining like a man-child.
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CD

13 years ago

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I think there's also a secondary thing to not like about this which is that it promotes the idea that men should not be interested in their furniture and decor and should just submit blindly to the whims of their partners because caring about design is feminine and un-manly.
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