You can't please everybody.

Story from CNN-money.

The Norwegian Prime Minister has accused IKEA - the Swedish company famous for selling furniture in flat boxes, which subsequently need to be assembled, following oftentimes a complicated instruction manual, - of sexual discrimination since they show only men assembling the furniture on such manuals. If that is not absurd enough, here is the reason why IKEA supposedly does not depict women:

IKEA, which has more than 200 stores in 32 nations, fears it might offend Muslims by depicting women assembling everything from cupboards to beds. Its manuals show only men or cartoon figures whose sex is unclear.

Will someone please tell me what the hell are 'cartoon figures whose sex is unclear' ? Will its going to lead to another Spongebob-type controversy in the US ?
Anyway, coming back to the story -apparently IKEA's explanation fails to satisfy our Norwegian PM.

"This isn't good enough," Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was quoted Thursday as telling the daily Verdens Gang. "It's important to promote attitudes for sexual equality, not least in Muslim nations."

So he wants IKEA to be the emancipator of women in Muslim countries! Going through the story, however, we come to the real reason for his vitriol against IKEA:

Bondevik added: "I myself have great problems with screwing together such furniture."

Come on man - doesn't the Norwegian PM have some other fish to fry - like increasing taxes or trying to broker peace in far off lands.

Btw, both my wife and I are fans of Ikea furniture and home-accessories. We have not had any trouble assembling the sofa, the love-seat, the coffee tables, sides tables of various sizes or the entertainment center/bookcase set that we have purchased from there.