IKEA Thinks Your Husband is a Big Baby
Ikea's Månland
“A superstore can be a terrifying place,” says an Australian news reporter. Which is why the Swedish superstore IKEA has created a calming respite for the more easily frightened sex: Månland, a grown-up male’s playground inspired by Småland, IKEA’s popular kiddie drop-off haven. In Månland, virus-encrusted plastic balls are replaced by big screen TVs showing sporting events, and bossy, young female employees are replaced by subservient, young female employees delivering snacks. There are also video games for those who need to get out a little physical energy between lolls on the couch.
The concept is special for Father’s Day (Australian), and seems to be meant as sort of a joke. But as Irin Carmon points out at Jezebel, there are a few issues with this kind of humor.
“The problem with the men-as-children meme is that it’s self-fulfilling, particularly in conjunction with the idea that men are no good at household tasks and only women can do stuff like laundry. Some men may prefer playing video games to buying a couch or cleaning the kitchen, but women probably would rather do a lot of other things too.”
I’ll say. Why should women be expected to actually enjoy the five-hour marathon of physical labor, emotional drain, and promise-dashed-upon-the-rocks that is IKEA shopping?
Because we live in a world of gender stereotypes, in which women are thought to gain pleasure from acquisition and decoration, while men are thought to gain pleasure from…sitting on their asses and being fed snacks by women they’re not married to. Oh, and lest you think this might be actually empowering to women, assuming they have the financial and physical wherewithal to buy the family furnishings, the Australian news reassures wives that their husbands “will be returned in time to pay and push the trolley.”
Though I do tend to be the person who gets us out the door to IKEA, I’m also the one who’s most wrecked by the experience. I can’t remember a time I went there without feeling like I needed to follow up the visit with a stiff drink, a bubble bath, a good cry, or all three at once. Which is why I prefer a different solution to the toll a trip to IKEA can take on a relationship. My Swedish friend told me that back at home, IKEA provides free marriage counseling to customers.
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Lame, Ikea-really??
I have to say-when my husband and I choose to go to Ikea (which we only do after we’ve cultivated a good solid list of stuff we have to get-because as we all know, you just don’t pop over to Ikea to pick up one thing), it’s like planning for battle. When we are actually able to leave there having found, pronounced, purchased, and loaded the stuff into our car that was parked four miles away, we are so proud of our triumphant teamwork that we have to go and treat ourselves to burgers and slurpees. I’d never want/be able to brave that place without him.
I wanna hang out in Manland – why’s eating snacks and playing video games just for guys???
Wow… I might actually be able to get my husband to go there with me now. lol.
When we lived over an hour from an IKEA my husband hated going with me cause I always wanted to peruse the set-ups, imagining how each modern-looking chair would fit into our home.
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Now there is an IKEA about 15 minutes away. I tend to go and wander the displays, narrow down what I want, and then go home with the catalog to show my husband what I was thinking about. Sometimes I can get him to go back with me to pick up whatever we end up deciding on. Sometimes I just go back by myself and have one of the strapping young employees move the crap into my car.
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Of course, the thing my husband hates the most is actually assembling the furniture…
I think I’ve lucked out, as much as the hubby complains about going to IKEA (mainly due to the 40 min drive that we find ourselves scissors/paper/rock-ing over) he actually really enjoys IKEA and gets just as enthusiastic as I do. We may have the slight advantage that I worked there during school and know the best systems for battling through the crowds and self serve, but we both enjoy it.
did none of the fem-bots read the part about it being for Father’s Day?!?!
What fem-bots?
It’s a fun way to celebrate Father’s Day – I like the sense of humor they’re bringing to it. But the problem is this sentence: “Some men may prefer playing video games to buying a couch or cleaning the kitchen, but women probably would rather do a lot of other things too.” Manland isn’t just for fathers, and lots of men don’t need to be told those stereotypes are ok to aspire to or insist on.
When I see things like this, I imagine being a woman walking into a hardware store and being shown a special ladies corner by the helpful greeter.