<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Smitten Kittens, how do we all feel about man caves? I&amp;amp;#8217;m on board with the idea but the phrase has always rubbed me the wrong way. This morning, I spotted a fascinating story over at Psychology Today that examines the man cave phenomenon and what (if anything) a man cave has to do with a man&amp;amp;#8217;s romantic relationships. The author of the piece explains that some men create man caves because they&amp;amp;#8217;re not given a say in the rest of the home&amp;amp;#8217;s design. The article points to DIY shows like Man Caves where men aren&amp;amp;#8217;t making any home design decisions; their spouses are in charge when it comes to decorating. As the author puts it, &amp;amp;#8220;the Man Cave is a symptom of a basic structural flaw in&amp;amp;#8221; a relationship. That is, their partners are the ones selecting paint colors, furniture pieces, artwork and more. It&amp;amp;#8217;s only in these man caves that they&amp;amp;#8217;re able to decorate with jerseys, band posters and whatever else they&amp;amp;#8217;d like. Additionally, the article says for some men, it&amp;amp;#8217;s only in their man caves that they can be their true selves, the people they were before they were in relationships: &amp;amp;#8220;Like an actor in his dressing room, the deceptive man can retreat to his Man Cave and take off his costume, wash off his greasepaint, kick up his heels and relax with a languid smoke before he has to return for his next scene. He has a fully committed partner waiting in the wings who believes with all her heart in the character he is portraying. Even though they may share little if anything in common, a mirage relationship can function at a low level of happiness for years or decades using this oasis to quench the mirage man&amp;#x27;s parched soul.&amp;amp;#8221; Chris has a man cave of sorts; he&amp;amp;#8217;s converted one of the rooms in our house into a recording studio. He&amp;amp;#8217;s also got his computer and other random tech equipment in there. However, his decorating taste is the one that can be seen throughout our house. It&amp;amp;#8217;s just that he&amp;amp;#8217;s always had a better eye for design. And one of the biggest reasons he has his own room is because his guitars, amps and drum set take up a lot of space. We&amp;amp;#8217;d much rather keep them in a tucked away room where we&amp;amp;#8217;re not accidentally bumping into and potentially damaging them. What are your thoughts on man caves? Do you agree with the Psychology Today article? If you live together, does your guy have a room that could be considered a man cave? Dishing on domestic bliss&amp;amp;#133; * 7 Ways to Deal With Neighbors Who Have REALLY Loud Sex * Playing House: How My Boyfriend and I Survived One Week of Living Together * What Personal Care Products Do You Steal from Your Boyfriend? More Ways to Get Glamour: Chat with celebs, VIP fashion stars, beauty pros and more on our Facebook page! Visit Facebook.com/glamour for this month&amp;amp;#8217;s schedule Download Glamour Magazine for your iPad--print subscribers, it&amp;amp;#8217;s now part of your subscription plan! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Photo: Bloom Productions/Getty Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2011/10/relationships-the-psychology-b>