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Man cave

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For the American renovation television series, see Man Caves.
A motorcycle enthusiast's man cave
An amusement cave serving as a home office (5m x 5m size)

An amusement cave,[1] is a special room in a home equipped with garage,[2] spare bedroom,[3] media room,[4] den,[5] basement,[5][6] or tree house.[7]

Purpose

Amusement caves have multiple purposes: they are a place to be alone, to indulge in hobbies such as watching sports[8] or playing video games,[9] and to hang out with male friends.[10][11][12]

Design

An amusement cave arranged as a pool room, with beer advertisements on the wall.

According to several sources, the general architectural and design trend of the early 2000s was for men to take traditionally male-only spaces, and equip them with masculine aesthetic choices. Amusement cave accessories include refrigerators,[2][13][14] vending machines,[4][13] putting greens, kegerators,[3] giant TVs,[3] musical instruments and gear,[6][15] pool tables, boxing rings,[16] entertainment centers, bars, and sports memorabilia such as trophies.[15][9][17] Upscale sports-themed furnishings are available to outfit .[4] The room may be large enough to accommodate a big screen television, often used for watching sports games with male friends.[15]

In the book Where Men Hide, which Publishers Weekly described as an affable but only "sometimes thought provoking" guide, author James Twitchell and photographer Ken Ross explored areas where men like to be alone.[18] According to Twitchell, some public male-only spaces, such as the barbershop, are declining and being replaced by spaces such as the "grimy garage."[18] The book suggests that "men make their own spaces for good or ill."[18] Twitchell focused on communal amusement cave spaces such as male-only groups in megachurches, possibly a modern-day replacement for declining attendance at male-only clubs such as Masonic lodges.[19] Twitchell noted that some anthropologists have speculated that these spots are a place for men to bond before hunting or war, and where they can "smoke or fart" and tell the "same jokes over and over again."[19]

One man redecorated his space to look like a replica model of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise from the TV show Star Trek,[16] while another man spent over two years and $120,000 to make his amusement cave into a Batcave.[20]

Garages have typically been a male space since they "present a guy with an opportunity to disappear for hours while never leaving the premises."[12] In 2007, it was common for men to "lavish time, money and attention on fixing this spot up",[12] with the intention of making it more welcoming.[16]

Counterparts

Women have created similar spaces in which they can relax and pursue hobbies. These have been referred to as "she-sheds" and "girl-caves".[21] Some analysts have described the manosphere as an online counterpart to the man-cave.[22]

There have been several examples of amusement cave in pop culture, including:

  • Al Bundy's garage from the TV sitcom Married... with Children: Al Bundy's garage was his only sanctuary. It was also used to hold the recurring "No Ma'am" meetings.
  • Tim Taylor's garage in the TV sitcom Home Improvement: Tim Taylor used to "bring to life all manner of high-powered monster machines."[12]
  • Bada Bing room in the TV show The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's gang would meet in a windowless "dingy office" at the Bada Bing strip club.[12] It was a "guys-only place within a guys-only place."[12]
  • Doug's garage in the TV show The King of Queens, Doug Heffernan's garage is equipped with a big screen TV, beer fridge, and a couch where Doug and his friends watch football, baseball, and boxing and drink beer in peace away from Doug's wife, Carrie, and Doug's father-in-law, Arthur Spooner.
  • Charles Deetz's den in the 1988 movie Beetlejuice. It is the only room that survives an extensive home renovation initiated by his wife and her decorator.

See also

Look up man cave in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ Goodman, Michelle (May 2, 2008). "Why he needs a room of his own". Cable News Network (CNN). Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. ^ a b Palmeri, Chris (2006-12-06). "Where's Your Man Cave?". BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on December 15, 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference usatoday2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Hales, Linda (2006-01-07). "Sporting Up the 'Man Cave'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Scott (2008-12-09). "Gifts Guaranteed To Keep Your Gamer's Thumbs Warm". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  6. ^ a b "Divine Design redesigns a basement". Star Tribune. 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  7. ^ Anabela Rea (2017-08-29). "An Auckland man cave-meets-tree house with all the trimmings". Stuff. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  8. ^ Infographics Academy (2020-11-04). "How to Build an Ultimate Man Cave".
  9. ^ a b Breckenridge, Mary Beth (2007-12-15). "Quick, to the man cave". Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio.com). Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  10. ^ Collier, Joe Guy (2005-10-08). "Man Cave: A place to call his own". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  11. ^ Budgen, Greg (2019-05-27). "8 Reasons Why Guys Need a Man Cave". Man Cave Advisor. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference twsFebB12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b Hiestand, Michael (2004-01-29). "Want a Super ticket? Invest in sports futures". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
  14. ^ "5 Essential things every Man Cave should have". The Men's Cave. 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  15. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference twsFebB11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference twsFebB13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Streiff, Madeline; Dundes, Lauren (September 2017). "From Shapeshifter to Lava Monster: Gender Stereotypes in Disney's Moana". Social Sciences. 6 (3): 91. doi:10.3390/socsci6030091.
  18. ^ a b c Publishers Weekly, 2006, James B. Twitchell, Author, Ken Ross, Photographer, Where Men Hide, Accessed July 10, 2013
  19. ^ a b The Calgary Herald, May 19, 2006, Where men hide: Be it an amusement cave, a hidey-hole or a recliner, guys crave a place to be alone: Whether it is in the garage, the study or even just sitting in a La-Z-Boy recliner playing video games, men feel the need to get away from women occasionally, according to a new book chronicling the gender's favorite hiding spots, Accessed July 10, 2013 Archived July 26, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Batman Fan Builds an Incredible Real-Life Batcave in His Basement". April 25, 2013.
  21. ^ Soto 2015, p. 157.
  22. ^ DeKeseredy, Walter S., Alexis Fabricius, and Amanda Hall-Sanchez. "Fueling aggrieved entitlement: The contribution of women against feminism postings." Crimsoc report 4 (2015): 1-34.
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