Twisty has penned a great post about the ulterior meaning behind the existence of teeny handbags. You've seen them. These purses are about the size of an eyeglass case, and they can hold only a birth-control pill, a few dollars and some change, and some pocket mace. My friends and I call them "hooker purses." I've seen them at the mall, in particular, in one accessory shop for teenaged girls. Some of them are plastic, with zippers with holes in the top so you can attach keyrings, feathers, little flashlights whose batteries last for about five minutes, and other useless gack that you will never use. Some have cutesy little flowers embossed on them, while others sport Hello Kitty. The most amazing ones to me are clear. Not only would you carry around a teeny handbag, but everyone around you can see your birth-control pill, your money, and your pocket mace. What kind of message does that send?
I own a couple of old-fashioned teeny handbags that look like someone cut a letter-envelope-sized chunk out of a Persian rug and attached a zipper to it. These bags smell like old ladies. They come with a chain that can barely make it around my wrist. Even though next to nothing can fit in these bags, that didn't stop me from using them when I went through my Big Hair phase in the 1980s. One commenter at Twisty's mentioned that ladies' wallets are often the size of horsefeed bags (she didn't use those words, but the image stuck in my mind). You cannot fit a ladies' wallet into one of these teeny handbags. All I could fit into it was a few dollars, some change, a lipstick, my driver's license, and my medical insurance card in case I broke my neck while tripping around on stiletto heels - another tool of the patriarchy.
One reason that women must carry handbags is that their clothing traditionally comes without pockets. Plus, many women feel they must carry around an arsenal of personal items, such as a comb, brush, lipstick, tampons, wallet, pocket mace, cell phone, mirror, notepad, calendar, address book, sneakers (when they aren't wearing stilettos), stilettos (when they either are wearing sneakers or their feet hurt too much from the stilettos), extra pairs of panty hose, shampoo, conditioner, and toothbrush (in case they meet the man of their dreams while staring down a martini in a hotel bar), hairspray, glasses, sunglasses, an iPod, CDs, cassette tapes, 8-track tapes (if you own these, your age is showing), headphones, car keys, cigarettes, a lighter, a cigarette case, a paperback book, and a bottle of water. And those are only the necessities.
Article comments
1 - elsa
Nice piece of writing. I read once, a woman's choice of handbag reflected how she felt about her vagina. No other details were given, but it made think so I'm sharing this with you.
2 - Mark Sahm
Elsa said "a woman's choice of handbag reflected how she felt about her vagina."
Oh how people perpetuate these myths. I'd assume that comes from the same school of thought that a man's choice in automobile reflects his penis size. Which is true in some cases, but then I'm sure most porn stars aren't driving Hyundais!
3 - Natalie Bennett
The answer of course is minimalism in carrying stuff combined with clothes with pockets. For a while when I lived in Bangkok I had a tailor make all my clothes. (No more expensive than Western pre-made.) And because he mostly made men's clothes they not only had the outside pockets I included in the design, but pockets in the lining, which were brilliantly useful for things like passports and transport tickets.
4 - swingingpuss
You are right elsa, when a woman carries a diaper bag as her purse its clearly denotes that her vagina is out of commission;)
5 - elsa
lmao swingingpuss.
6 - Mark Sahm
SP: Good call! I almost stand corrected on that myth. However, what of the mothers who had a c-section? I doubt they're closing shop.
7 - swingingpuss
Nope, those ladies just get more time to ward off sex.