Comments on: Private Estates: Male Versus Female

By: BONZO

BONZO — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:35:06 +0000

Good point but I always saw the Waterfall terrace as very Shire-ish. Other than the fact that its a hollowed out log and not built into the side of a hill, it looked remarkably like Bilbo’s house in Hobbiton, at least the interior -- so it always had that fantasy appeal to me more than the outdoorsman thing going for it. I really wish they had built into it the ability to take the canoe into the fishing lake.

By: Kassadee Marie

Kassadee Marie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:40:13 +0000

Thanks, Burbie! But I have to say while I find that the Lake Cabin could be made more feminine with nice furniture… the Waterfall Terrace with that fishing/hunting motif seems very male to me. (Female fisher-persons and hunters, please don’t yell at me. I can’t help seeing those as masculine activities.)

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:57:51 +0000

Nice article Kass and I agree with you for the most part. But I bought the Waterfall and then the Log cabin as my first two estates ever. I don’t particularly see them as male at all. They are esthetically beautiful spaces and I bought them as representations of dawn and dusk respectively. I believe those two are more gender neutral as the way you decorate them makes them male or female. Another space with a game that is definitely male is the Red Bull Skate. I bought it for the game and had fun decorating it really funky and different than I would normally.
I think any type of castle would sell well for both males and females as it can go either way depending on decoration. I have been advocating one of those for a long time now. I have several male friends who love to decorate as well and many are quite good at it. I think they feel that it is a safe way to let the artistic or more feminine side of their nature to come out.
Nice read!

By: BONZO

BONZO — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:06:36 +0000

yes i definitely agree with you that most spaces are very masculine, and are very much geared to male tastes, what is ironic is that stereotypical notions tell us that men aren’t into decorating (it maybe stereotypical but i love decorating). The war/adventurer theme is very overused for male sensibilities because the boys from birth are bombarded with the hetero male persona idea. Our society deems the notion of a pretty blonde fashion doll is for girls, and the ripped muscular war GI Joe or tights clad superhero to be for boys, which seriously it is very ironic if you think about it. Genders are even applied to colors, pink is for girls, blue is for boys, once children are a certain age that changes to pastels being for girls, and primary colors or neutrals being for boys. Colors make us react emotionally too, so if a color is neutral it follows the notion that men are supposed to be unemotional and stoic, hence the concrete gray overuse from the military barracks to the racing box space and the lake houses. Metal Grays, and concrete look has always been applied to the industrial feel and look of a place again another male theme. The masculine perception is very cultural too, different cultures have different ideas of what is acceptable standards of masculinity, most of these themes in home follow the American culture ideas of masculinity. I’ve always thought of the Paris Clock tower as a very steam punk themed space, which steam punk is a Victorian, Industrial Revolution, future punk mash up of themes. The themes used are safe though, if you try to appeal to females what themes can you use that wouldn’t walk the line of sexism or be too stereotypical? Personally at least gender neutral themes I would love to see like a country ranch, with a coral or barn, a venice theme space that wasn’t renaissance like the assassins creed apartment, or A cottage with a view of dutch windmills in the background, or a victorian house that wasn’t haunted a la cutheridge estate.