Why don't men carry purses?

Parent Cafe
21

<p>I carry a messenger bag/briefcase whatever that carries my laptop, my Kindle, business cards, etc for work each day. But other than that, on a daily basis I don’t carry it around with me all day nor do I carry something else. I keep my wallet in a back pocket, a pen at my collar, and my BlackBerry in a case on my belt.</p>

22

<p>I took my brother to the hospital for tests yesterday. He left his initial paperwork in the car. Then he left the hospital paperwork on a desk. I had to remember and retrieve both; the only thing he brought back was a smaller document he could fold and put in his shirt pocket. It occurred to me that he needed a purse, but realized he’d just leave that behind, too.</p>

23

<p>A messenger bag is really a modified arrow pouch, right?</p>

24

<p>Men don’t carry purses, mostly, because men’s clothing actually has pockets. </p>

<p>I don’t carry a purse myself. I only buy clothing with pockets. On the rare occasions when I have to wear something without pockets (a fancy dress, usually), I have a very small cross-body purse that substitutes for the pockets. It holds my cell phone, id, and a $20 bill… the essentials.</p>

25

<p>H’s clothing does have pockets, but he wears 501s, which have limited pocket room. He also can’t remember what he put where, and leaves his cell or his keys in his jacket, which he left in the hotel room.
But I guess that is why he has me.
;)</p>

26

<p>H and I visited my parents, who were living in Egypt at the time, 26 years ago. They presented H with a small leather case for carrying his stuff around. It was a man purse. It’s what men in Egypt carried, at least in 1986. It was very practical. H still has it, but only uses it as an adult show and tell item. He usually sticks his stuff in my purse if we’re together.</p>

27

<p>^^We were living in Egypt in 1986 - in Maadi</p>

28

<p>High Heels. :slight_smile: I see them and think chinese foot binding. They seem to be getting taller and more intricate and more ugly. I am waiting for the switch back in fashion to more sensible and see it as a more healthy trend and then really to the days when girls wore “combat boots” to their prom. That was 1991. With fashion trends it is just around the corner. All I know is my mom wore heels into her 80s and was crippled because of it. She couldn’t stand flat. It was sad. So beware, those who wear heels and have longevity genes.</p>

29

<p>^ I wore flipflops to my prom in 09. I was far from alone. Maybe we’re starting to see the transition already? :D</p>

30

<p>Yay! That is good news.</p>

31

<p>My wife has multiple bags and sometimes forgets stuff because it’s in another bag.</p>

<p>For heavy stuff, I use a backpack. Hands-free, lots of pockets, and it can carry 20 pounds of gear. My workout bag is typically 10-12 pounds so I carry 25-30 pounds of stuff into the office. My vest has special pockets for electronics, routing for headphones, magnets on the slash pockets so that things don’t fall out of it, an eyeglasses pocket, etc. The practical aspect is that all of your stuff is hidden which can be an advantage on the bus or subway.</p>

32

<p>If my dad needs to go into the office he has his backpack for all his work needs. </p>

<p>We got him this really nice wallet that is meant to fit in a man’s pocket. It is not square but sort of curved and he mostly carries that around. His just throws his phone into his pocket.</p>

<p>If we travel he stuff his crap he needs either into his backpack or makes me carry it in my bag. I don’t mind.</p>

<p>A lot of my friends in college all had messenger bags which they just carried around with them. It is just easier for day to day stuff.</p>

<p>I barely carry a purse. I have my phone, wallet, keys, and sunglasses. I don’t feel the need to carry anything else with me. If I have class I grab a couple pens off my desk if I need them.</p>

33

<p>For my son’s generation backpacks are the manpurse. I also see men with things they pretend are camera bags. Louis XIV used to really rock in heels. <a href=“http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DA9R511bkfM/TtirgsWhZmI/AAAAAAAAAeM/O7-l0LsY-jI/s1600/Picnik+collage+king+louis+XIV.jpg[/url]”>http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DA9R511bkfM/TtirgsWhZmI/AAAAAAAAAeM/O7-l0LsY-jI/s1600/Picnik+collage+king+louis+XIV.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

34

<p>swimcatsmom, I think my parents were in Maadi too? They were there 2 years, followed by 2 years in tbe Philippines, and then 2 in Saudi Arabia.</p>

<p>I spent most of my elementary years in Pakistan. And now I live in the midwest. I’ve lived in my present city for 12 years, which is the longest I’ve lived anywhere my whole life.</p>

<p>Do you recall man purses in Egypt? H’s is black leather, has a zipper and a wrist strap, and is the size of a clutch purse.</p>

35

<p>One thing I don’t get is why men often take stuff (wallet, phone, etc.) out of their pockets when they sit down somewhere (their desk at the office, or a table at a restaurant) and put it on the desk or table. Seems like a way to just get it lost/forgotten/stolen/in-the-way. It seems to make as much sense as women wearing high heels.</p>

36

<p>I’m thinking it could be uncomfortable to sit on the keys or wallet depending on where the pockets are situated on a pair of pants, or that it could be to prevent having the wallet fall on the floor. Of course there are real live men here who could offer up a more definitive answer. :-)</p>

37

<p>ucb, I do that. It’s because I carry around my stuff in my back pockets and it’s uncomfortable to sit on them. Even when I carry stuff in my front pockets, it’s kind of uncomfortable IMO.</p>

38

<p>I carry stuff in front pockets, don’t worry about it falling out of back pockets or being uncomfortable sitting on it, and don’t find it uncomfortable. But then I may carry smaller stuff than most people do.</p>

39

<p>Because IME, backpacks are much better for carrying/storing lots of stuff. Not only do they carry much more than most purses, messenger type bags, or laptop bags, the weight is balanced much better across both shoulders so there isn’t as much muscle/back strain.* </p>

<p>This not only makes life easier for us males, it also enables us to carry much more stuff…and do it without calling undue attention to contents from potential thieves like laptop bags tend to do. </p>

<p>*Back when I was a scrawny 17 year old college freshman, I could easily carry 20+ pounds in my backpack. Actually did that once by carrying two laptops with all their associated accessories and walked from Battery Park to Columbia University on a hot July day. To any casual observer, it looked like I was heaving a respectable load of books.</p>

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<p>I personally don’t do that for precisely those reasons and never understood why anyone would leave the stuff on the desk/table/surface…especially in a public location such as a subway car seat or a bench in the park.</p>

40

<p>On the Jim & Pam wedding episode of The Office, Andy was dancing with keys in his front pants pocket, and has an unfortunate accident. Another compelling reason for men to carry purses!</p>