Editing Cubicle (section)

==Impact on society==
[[Image:Sea-of-cubicles-2.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A floor plan showing repetitive, regimented cubicles]]
It is unlikely that any other office furnishings has had as much of a social impact as the introduction of the office cubicle in the 1960s, though the outcome of the cubicle's arrival is still open to debate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Open VS Closed Space Work Environments |url=https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/open-vs-closed-space-work-environments/ |publisher=The Perspective |date=27 October 2017 |access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref> 

Author Thomas Hine speculated that the cubicle contributed to breaking the [[glass ceiling]] for women in the 1960s. Because women could be excluded from [[Occupational segregation|male-dominated]] open office "[[Open plan|bull pens]]," cubicles allowed women to be promoted into middle management positions without making men uncomfortable.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hine |first=Thomas |title=The Great Funk |publisher=Sara Crichton Books |year=2007 |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-374-14839-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatfunkfalling0000hine }}</ref>

Writer Geoffrey James of ''[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]'' is also a proponent of cubicles. James argues that cubicles encourage [[Diversity (business)|diversity in the workplace]], as opposed to open floor plans which he claims favors the socially privileged and creates an uncomfortable environment for others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Moral Life of Cubicles |url=https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-moral-life-of-cubicles |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=The New Atlantis |language=en-US}}</ref> Therefore, he claims open floor spaces systemically encourage [[ageism]], [[Institutional racism|racism]], [[Occupational sexism|sexism]], and [[ableism]] by focusing on young [[White privilege|white]] [[Male privilege|men]] as the [[Male as norm|norm]]. However, cubicles lead to more overall comfort and therefore more [[Social equality|equality in the workplace]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=James |first=Geoffrey |date=2018-10-10 |title=How Open-Plan Offices Kill Diversity and Equality |url=https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-open-plan-offices-kill-diversity-equality.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=Inc.com |language=en}}</ref> 

Cultural commentary about cubicles was done in the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2023-12-24 |title=As office workers make their return, so does the lowly cubicle |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/business/as-office-workers-make-their-return-so-does-the-lowly-cubicle |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref> In expensive cities like [[New York City|New York]] and [[London]], open-floor plans became popular because traditional cubicle or office setups were too costly.<ref name=":0" /> In 1989, controversial cartoonist [[Scott Adams]] spoke through his comic strip, ''[[Dilbert]]'', to satirize cubicle culture.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-11-01 |title=Life's Work: An Interview with Scott Adams |url=https://hbr.org/2013/11/scott-adams |access-date=2024-10-16 |work=Harvard Business Review |language=en |issn=0017-8012}}</ref> He depicted an IT company employee who works in a cubicle. In 2001, he teamed up with the design company [[IDEO]] to create "Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ideo.com/work/item/dilberts-ultimate-cubicle/|title=Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle|publisher=IDEO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017152226/http://www.ideo.com/work/item/dilberts-ultimate-cubicle|archive-date=2010-10-17|url-status=dead|access-date=2011-03-26}}</ref> It included both whimsical aspects, a modular approach and attention to usually-neglected ergonomic details like the change in light orientation as the day advances. 

In 1991, [[Douglas Coupland]] has coined the phrase "[[veal]]-fattening pen", a deprecation of cubicles in his novel ''[[Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture]]''. In 1999, cubicles were depicted in sci-fi movie ''[[The Matrix (film)|The Matrix]]'', in which a [[programmer]] who is moonlighting as a [[hacker (computer security)|hacker]] spends his days in a drab cubicle.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/reviews/ |title=Videodrome (1983) - IMDb |access-date=2024-10-16 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-03 |title=Hàng Thanh Lý 436 |url=https://hangthanhly436.com |access-date=2024-10-16 |language=vi}}</ref> The 1999 comedy ''[[Office Space]]'' depicts a [[boreout|bored]] group of [[Information technology|IT]] workers who work in cubicles.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/reviews/ |title=Office Space (1999) - User reviews - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2024-10-16 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>