What is "man cave"

n. A part of a home specifically reserved for adult male activities, such as drinking beer, playing games and watching TV; often a garage or den.

A man cave or manspace is a male retreat or sanctuary in a home, such as a specially equipped garage, spare bedroom, media room, den, or basement. The term "man cave" is a metaphor describing a room inside the house where "guys can do as they please" like a caveman, without fear of upsetting any female sensibility about house decor or design. Paula Aymer of Tufts University calls it the "last bastion of masculinity". The phrase is thought to come from the 1993 publication, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.

While a wife may have substantial authority over a whole house in terms of design and decoration, she generally has no say about what gets "mounted on the walls" of a man's personal space. Since it may be accepted that a woman has input on the decoration of the rest of the house, a man cave or man-space is in some sense a reaction to feminine domestic power.