The Urban Dictionary entry for "
Man Cave" goes as follows :
A room, space, corner or area of a dwelling that is specifically
reserved for a male person to be in a solitary condition, away from the
rest of the household in order to work, play, involve himself in certain
hobbies, activities without interruption. This area is usually decorated
by the male that uses it without interference from any female
influence.
The Wikipedia Page for "
Man Cave" Purpose sections is as follows:
Man caves have multiple purposes: they are a place to be alone, to be
away from women and from female sensibilities, to indulge in hobbies,
and to hang out with male friends. It is, loosely, a male-only space to
retreat to watch sports matches,
or play video games.
According to psychiatrist and author
Scott Haltzman,
it is important for a man to have a place to call his own, referring to
a male area to which to retreat. Some psychologists claim that a man
cave can provide refuge from stressful surroundings and be beneficial to
marriage.
Rules are relaxed; it is a place where other people's sensibilities about standards of
cleanliness are not necessarily observed; as one man said, "You spill a beer there or leave a hamburger overnight, who cares?
"
In a sense, for married men, it is a way to recreate some of the space and freedom of their bachelor days since it was like a "
pad" similar in feeling to a
frat house game room or a college
dorm room where people could come and go "as if they owned the place."
It is where a man doesn't have to be on his best behavior, where no
women are around, and where "no one is going to make you watch your p's
and q's" and "no one is going to ask you to explain yourself".
Writer and
handyman Sam Martin explained:
Men have had an identity problem since the women's movement. They
have tried to figure out who they're supposed to be. For a while women
wanted them to be more sensitive, so they were more sensitive. Then
women wanted them to be more manly. One of the things I discovered is
when men have their own manspace, what they put inside of it is really
an expression of who they are. Manspace is about establishing an
identity for a man. Our premise is that women have control of the look
and the feel of the house and that left guys wanting more. Anybody who
has a specific interest or hobby or work or collection is going to want a
space to indulge that.
Martin thinks that any space in the house will do, even a lounge
chair and a set of headphones, provided there's an agreement with one's
wife or girlfriend that the space is under the control of the man.
The advantages of a self-contained room are that male-oriented design
choices, such as "tacky lamps" and "beer-can sculptures", are out of
sight of women, but in a way that doesn't disturb female sensibilities
since visitors generally don't visit the man cave.
It's like a firehouse lounge room, but in the home.
