Within the era of modernization in which we live in today, various issues pertaining to how traditional societies cope with clashing Western values emerge. In this framework, the issues of gender identity and women’s role in Islamic societies are debated upon from time to time.
Recently, in quite bizarre circumstances, the topic of feminism in Islam has re-emerged – this time around, involving a well-known home furnishings giant, a European leader and construction manuals…
Swedish-based home furnishings giant IKEA has been strongly slammed by a Scandinavian leader for being “sexist” in its self-assembly manuals. The company has been told by Norway’s Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, to stop using so many images of men in its instruction leaflets.
He reportedly rejected the company's argument that it did not want to offend Muslims by depicting women building beds, sofas and bookcases. "This isn't good enough," he told a local paper. "It's important to promote attitudes for sexual equality, not least in Muslim nations."
"They should change this," he said. "There's no justification for it," the Norwegian premier added.
The IKEA concept is founded on the basis of a low price offer in home furnishings for basically every spot in the home, from bathrooms, bedrooms to kitchens and children’s playrooms. The store’s colorful and detailed catalogue is printed in over 20 languages and circulates in over 30 countries, including Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Malaysia. The privately owned group has over 200 stores in 32 countries around the world. Over 300 million people visit IKEA stores during the year.
The company was forced to undertake a review of its manuals "to get a more even balance between men and women", IKEA said in a statement.
Assembling an IKEA piece can be just as great a challenge for men as for women, the Norwegian leader had said. "I myself have great problems with screwing together such furniture."
In a recent statement, IKEA admitted that there were more men than women in its instruction leaflets, but that it did not know "the exact balance" between the sexes in its literature.
"IKEA will now review its instructions leaflets to get a more even balance between men and women," said the statement.
"IKEA places great stress on being open for all and equality is important in the IKEA catalogue and in every other form of communication," it continued.
The group acknowledged that women appearing in its manuals were not pictured wearing short skirts or sleeves to avoid offending people in various places around the world.
IKEA has about 2,000 products that need diagrammed instructions to assemble, and not one of these sheets shows a woman dealing with the problem of putting Swedish flat-packed furniture together, Verdens Gang newspaper reported.
"We have over 200 warehouses around the world and have to take cultural considerations into account. In Muslim countries there is a problem using women in instructions," IKEA's information chief Camilla Lindemann told Verdens Gang.
It seems the Norwegian prime minister has plenty of time on his hands if he found time to slam IKEA on this issue.
