Maternal Co-Dependency and Man Space

Maybe I came out of a more “independent” family, but my mother did not live with me nor was involved in everything I did once I turned say…twelve.

She had her stuff that she did and my father had his stuff that he did that left me with a rather independent life to live on my own.

That’s not to say that there weren’t curfew hours and rules about what I had to do and what I couldn’t do, but it wasn’t like my parents – my mother in particular – was living my day-to-day life with me.

I started seeing the shift with these Generation X parents about five years ago when we did some Coffee House Chats among moms and their elementary school kids.

The moms talked about how they went to school with their kid and sat in the classroom with their kid when the kid had study work to complete.

Then about two years ago, we did a website and a series of television spots for one of the universities in Georgia.

The website was fashioned just for parents. The link to the parent site was right below the link the kids hit to learn more about the school. The television spots highlighted the mom and dad’s perspective of college life.

This past weekend here in Athens, the dorms opened back up and the parents along with the students took over the local Target, Wal-Mart, Lowes and Home Depot buying up everything from futons to towels to floor lamps.

While a few fathers could be seen…the moms were out in force!

Last night on HGTV, there was a mom that insisted that her recent college-graduate daughter could not move into her own home because her mother said that the two were inseparable. (no joke!)

Then I saw one of those Free-Standing Insert ads in the Sunday paper that I thought probably hit right into the core of it all.

The ad was marketing Philips Norelco shavers.

The headline read: “I Can Make You The Happiest Mom In The World” and the pictorial featured a comparative line graph of “Mom’s Happiness” compared to “Frequency of Trimming.”

Are the same words going through your mind that went through mine?

“Co-dependency”
“Uncut umbilical cord”
“Virgin Mary”
“Weird”
“Kinky”

Okay… I will stop there.

No question that these GenXers came out of the highest divorce rate ever posted among parents. Some of the population statistics say that nearly 50% of GenXers were raised as kids by divorced parents.

There’s also a second trend that is tied to this maternal dependency.

It’s the increasing popularity of what is called “Man Space.”

There’s even a show on HGTV called “Man Land” all about men taking back space in the house that they can call there own.

Gone are the “Family Rooms” and in now are the “Man Rooms.”

It’s the Home Pub, the Vintage Theatre, the Home Office Space, the Game Room, the Car Repair Shop, the Gardening Shed and the Garage Workshop.

When you Google “Man Space,” there’s a book that comes up on Amazon.com titled “Manspace. A Primal Guide To Marking Your Territory.”

The psychologist side of me truly does believe that the GenXer Mother’s are co-dependent with their kids and the guys are into the tribal call of individuality and same-gender bonding.

While the Norelco FSI doesn’t appeal much to me, I would still give them a creative award for at least digging into what seems to be happening out there right now.

The BIG questions are where all else can these Gen X mindset and relationship dynamics empower brands next? Real Estate? Automotive? Apparel? Furniture? Quick Service Restaurants? (Taco Bell and Quizno’s might already be on it!)

Over the years, I have worked with several hospital clients on the development of a Women’s Health Services venture. These range from specific disease programs like Cancer treatment to whole hospitals dedicated solely to women and women’s health.

My bet is that we are going to see both of these trends start to impact healthcare.

A mother-daughter team may soon replace the wife-husband team in the delivery room. We may even see a special family center developed just for mothers in the sports medicine and treatment section of the hospital.

Is the all male hospital next featuring cardiac care, orthopedics, sports medicine, diabetes and prostate cancer screening…maybe even special wings of the hospital sponsored by a brand like Viagra…the next big trend in healthcare facilities?

If women can have a whole specialty service sector…even customized hospitals, then why can’t men?

Something tells me as I type this blog that we will see more of both of these observations in our 2010 Trendcast that will hit the news wires in about 60 days.