IKEA Under Fire After Catalog Suggestions Is Called ‘Sexist’

A web designer accused IKEA of sexism after seeing its catalog suggest that a drill should be left in the “man drawer.”

Web designer Alex Baxevanis told The Sun he demands an apology after seeing the reference to a “man drawer” in a description for toothbrush holders with suction cups.

“Leave your drill in your man drawer,” the U.K. catalog reads. “An array of suction-cup containers allows you to get your most-used utensils up and away, and retain valuable workspace.”

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“It sounds like something out of the 1950s making a reference to a ‘man drawer,’” Baxevanis told The Sun. “It struck me as ridiculous, my drill doesn’t live in a man drawer. It’s used equally by me and my wife.”

The 35-year-old sent The Sun photos of his wife, senior business development manager Ania Mendrek, using their drill.

“I think it’s a case of everyday sexism, at the very least it’s left open to interpretation,” Mendrek, 41, told The Sun. “A man drawer may well be a colloquial term, but there are lots of phrases that are colloquial that we are appalled to use – should we keep them because they are colloquial regardless of their being sexist?”

“In using this phrase, we are drawing on the common colloquial term man drawer as a place where tools may be kept,” said Laurent Tiersen, Country Marketing Manager at IKEA UK & Ireland. “It is never our intention to offend anyone with our marketing material, however we understand how this could be interpreted and will of course take this input as feedback for future material.”

This isn’t the first time IKEA has been accused of sexism. In December 2016, the Swedish furniture giant was forced to change sexist baby-changing station signs in restrooms at Spanish stores. Back in 2012, the retailer caused an international firestorm when it was discovered that they airbrushed women out of their Saudi Arabia catalog.