Clearly I’m watching too much Hgtv. Why is it a thing when couples are buying a house that the men are getting an entire basement or room to go sit alone and watch tv? I’ve never seen where the woman is doing that.
Because woman tends to have the whole house.
^^^ Yeah, in which to cook and clean.
I’ve never understood ONE Person in a family getting a room (other than their bedroom) that’s theirs exclusively. Sorry, guys, we’re a family. OUR home is OURS, not YOURS.
I’ve never understood why the man needs a man cave. Doesn’t every man take over the family room TV anyway? So why does he need his own special room?
I think the idea is to get the husband out of the way.
I’m a woman. I used to work at home, and therefore I claimed a small room in our house as a home office.
Then I got a full-time job. I didn’t give up my office, even though I only don’t work from home much anymore.
Bring on the handcuffs.
My husband has a de facto man cave, though we didn’t start out with that in mind for that room.
We don’t watch the same TV shows so it works for us.
My husband has a de facto man cave, too. Our family room. When I want to watch something else (read: not football )I go to another room which has a tv.
Handcuffs? What kind of room is this?
^ 
I have an office and spouse has most of the basement for his gaming stuff. Why? Because I hate basements and rarely go down there. It had zero to do with whether or not we bought the house.
I don’t see the problem with people having spaces that are primarily theirs. People like having their space. That doesn’t mean others should be excluded.
Are you saying the woman would equally want such a room, and it isn’t fair only he gets it, or are you saying she wouldn’t want it so he shouldn’t either?
I know lots of guys with man caves, from garages all fitted out as workshops/gyms to media rooms. I’ve never truly understood it: you go to work and come home and don’t spend time with your spouse/kids? We all need alone time but in most of the world your alone time has to take place in a room or place with other people and now we’re so spoiled we need a dedicated space with electronics and toys like that electric guitar you always wanted but never play.
But then I’ve never been into video games and I have no problem turning off sports, though I probably know more of the actual ins and outs of the game play (because among other things, I actually read coaching manuals … which is weird but technique fascinates me).
Okay Lergnom, that’s just a really interesting hobby. :-?
It was pretty common back when people our age were kids to have basements dedicated to hobbies, so they were man or woman caves, really. This isn’t new other than there are entire industries dedicated to decorating them. I don’t think anyone expects to spend every waking moment in the same place as their families. When we bought our house we discovered a room in the basement full of tools and a workbench-the patriarch had built several of the cabinets and shelves throughout the house and all the shelving and drawers in his workroom. The wife had a section of the laundry room for her canning supplies-these were people who built the place in the 1950’s.
My grandparents in NYC split their basement into two-grandpa used his side for his metalworking and other hobbies, grandma had her section set up as an art studio. They still spent plenty of time together.
What does it say about our culture that the shop has been replaced by a TV room? I guess I just don’t get why one person gets their own private room in the house away from everyone else. Perhaps it’s the youngest child in me talking. I grew up sharing a bedroom, had roommates in college, and got married not too long gone after. I’ve never really even had a bedroom to myself let alone an entire room devoted to me and my hobbies. I didn’t realize couples couldn’t hang out in the same room together doing different things.
I think people CAN be in the same place doing their own thing, but if you can afford a room for individual pursuits, I don’t see why it’s a bad thing. It’s not like everyone will just go to their own rooms and never come out. H has his own room-we call it the “snoring room”. He has his computer in there, a TV and a good sound system. I can’t stand sports and he collects music, which I can’t appreciate well because I am hearing impaired. He still watched some TV with me, we read together, or just sit and hang out in the main room. My sister had a sewing room and her ex had a basement workshop-they would not have even been able to hear one another had they tried to do their hobbies in the same room! I don’t see what the big deal is.
^^^Agreed.
Well my husband insisted on keeping his big, manly leather chairs which do not match our family room furniture whatsoever. So in the de facto man cave they went. And where the leather chairs go - he goes. 
I guess I don’t understand the big deal.
I don’t live in an especially large house. The basement has a big room, laundry space, and a spare bedroom. He gets the main room mostly to himself because I don’t wander down there. (Bonus: he does all the laundry because I don’t like the basement).
Upstairs, we have a kitchen (shared space), living room (shared space), front room (shared space), and two bedrooms (shared space and roommate’s space). The office is attached to the front room and it is mine because he really would be bored out of his mind in there.
I like alone time. I like not being around people all the time. I like not having his games clutter up the living room. So, this was what happened. We didn’t set out for this but over time, that’s how things shifted.
It’s not like he’s 4 and has a “no girls allowed” sign on his space.
As for hanging out in the same space: it normally doesn’t happen for us because he has games going or the TV on and I’m usually reading or doing other things and don’t want the background noise.
Many of you are talking about a special room for the man, and another for the woman of the house. But HGTV is only advocating a special room dedicated to the man of the house.