BFash, welcome, very glad you have joined us! Why do you think backpacks are so popular? The manly man's murse - I'm rarely without my backpack.

Interesting. I think "accessories" for men must be a no-no, because when I worked at a department store, the purse/wallet scarf section (for women, natch) was called "Women's Accessories." However, the comparable men's department (minus purses, of course) was called "Men's Furnishings." That cracked me up.

i've been using a leather, bag-like briefcase for years.

mostly all that ever in it is stuff printed out from the web, a newspaper, and the cds i'm listening to for today.

then a couple of months ago i saw an ad in the new yorker for these cool danish schoolbook bags.

i'm tempted....but keep flashing back to that old All In The Family episode where mike was accused of wearing a purse...

I carry a backpack - my own "manbag," I guess. If anyone needs to carry a handbag, it's men. We always have crap to take with us and have to find a way to stuff it all into our pockets. I mean, Dockers created those pants with all the hidden extra pockets just because men need more storage space.

Okay, so fine, my backpack is filled with CDs. I still throw other crap I'd never be able or want to carry in my pockets.

Man-bags would have to be very subtley introduced - they couldn't possibly look like purses. They'd have to be high-tech looking, like with lots of metal buckles and straps and carbon-fiber bits all over, and probably have sponsor stickers all over - either sports items or automotive. They certainly could not be made by any company already associated with women. No, they'd have to be stamped with a Sears Craftsman logo or Makita or something manly like that. There's no way you'll catch a straight man carrying a Gucci bag. But Black & Decker? Sold.

I have gone through about 4 different messenger bags (surprised that murse euphemism hasn't come up in the discussion yet) in the last 4 years.

I swear by the things. I wouldn't want to be without my notebook, music, or reading materials, but I certainly can't fit them in my pockets!

Viva les murses!

i think man purses are good because if a man is gay and he wants to show i think he should be able to but just to let you guys know i am staright lol

Thanks for setting us straight, so to speak.

Murses... great term.

The crowd I work with all come with their accessories -- watches, cell phones, laptops, PDAs...

It's just today's version of the snap-brim fedora, cufflinks and tie-bar.

Maybe next we could popularize wallets
for females? We can call them "Fallets".

i love the manly man purses that i see. i do wish there were better designs for them. i really dont like to see guys with the back packs. i think the mail carriers are great, but bulky. i would like to see something the same size as a womans purse (shebag) but definately more masculine.

backpack laptop bag. that's my solution. looks cool, and i use the whole laptop thing as my excuse. besides, when i pull the computer out, it has skulls on it. nobody questions my heterosexuality.

I think the purse should have been a unisex accessory from the get go. Even if it meant that for men it would be more masculine styling, but A man has to always be prepared just as a woman would, whether he's in Ney York,LA,Paris, or some rural town in the Midwest. Men have always carried a lot of stuff.
THe notion that a man carrying a purse is less of a man is as accurate as the notion that a woman wearing trousers is less lady like.