Gender-specific areas, in retail environments across the world, are on the rise. But today’s post pokes fun at the rising perception of the male of the species and how best to corral them into a specific type of gendered area. If advertisements serve as a window into what we as a society crave, think and need reinforced, then men, for all intents and purposes are a moaning, childish lot, incapable of multi-tasking or self-help and stricken with a terminal case of retail attention deficit disorder (R.A.D.D. for the laymen). In fact, the projected image of the male in the context of a retail environment (excluding video games stores and porn shops we’re assuming) is much like that of a spoiled child throwing a slow burning temper tantrum.

Instead of challenging that notion, an IKEA in Australia decided to lean into it. And lean they did.

Introducing the MANland.

While MANland, (which in essence is a nursery for adult males) was only a 4-day trial, the test period drew gobs of international attention and IKEA is in the process of considering a rollout strategy to spread this idea to other retail locations.

This move presents an interesting tight rope IKEA has chosen to walk on. On the one hand they’re poking fun at the perceived incapability of proper retail attention span of the adult male, while on the other hand they take a hefty risk in offending potential male customers who may find this holding pen of sorts, to be degrading to their gender (could you imagine the outrage had their been a nursery for women?). While it is a bit clever, admittedly, MANland does nothing to break gender roles and stereotypes assigned and reinforced by society.

As a popular YouTube comment posited, “if Home Depot built a little kitchen in the back [where] men could "check their women into when they get to the store" so the [women] can try out all the latest recipes, knitting designs and flower arrangement techniques because females have_ such short "technical equipment attention spans" and so their husbands don't have to listen to their "incessant whinging and nagging" right?

Could they not have removed gender from the equation all together and simply created a “FUNland” for bored adults, aka a “waiting room”? That would surely present less of a PR conundrum for IKEA.

Looks like this will be as tricky for them to fix as it is for us to put together a MALM shelving unit.

Links to consider:

http://www.springwise.com/retail/ikea-manland-play-space-for...