December Flower, Celebrate Woo Woo and I were having a little side conversation in the comments down a few posts regarding the female bag hoarding phenomenon. Where does it come from? Why does it happen? I find it odd, but so many women are drawn to handbags (not to mention shoes and accessories) that there has to be some sort of natural (aka biological) reason behind it, doesn't there? Or is there a time in every girl's life where we are societally indoctrinated into the handbag craving phenomenon? It's one hell of a craving for some people so there has to be something behind it. Millions of woman can't just randomly want purses, can they?
Perhaps it has something to do with womanhood and power. I remember in my middle school, you didn't carry a purse until you needed to, i.e. you had to carry around feminine hygiene products, or you wanted people to think you needed to. I was of the don't ask/don't tell philosophy so I hid them in my back pack. Some girls were happy to carry purses (i.e. announce their womanhood) and filled them with other trappings of "womanhood" - mirrors, lipstick, NowandLaters (ok, so they weren't a trapping of "womanhood", but they were really popular back in the day. We called them nomalaters. I didn't realize for years that that wasn't their real, albeit odd, name. But I digress.)
The other aspect of handbags is that men don't carry them (lucky bastards). Purses are purely female. (Although some metrosexuals are embracing the idea of carrying around all their crap as well.) It's certainly reasonable for a Mom to need to carry a whole bunch of stuff around. And we, as females, do tend to need more stuff than men, but why is that? Why can't I wear my cell phone in a holster and carry a wallet? Probably because we think ahead and recognize that sometimes we're going to need a pen, a check book, lip balm, tissues, sunglasses, wet naps, gum, etc, etc... Oh, to be male and ignorant (sorry guys). Or maybe I should say, Oh to be male and able to rely on the nearest female for all the things I've forgotten or neglected to carry around with me. Maybe we actually like being the person a man can rely on. We can't always open that jar of pesto without help (the one in my fridge currently is the bain of my existence) but we can pull all sorts of MacGyveresque feats with the contents of our purses.
That still doesn't quite explain the need for a king's ransom of knockoffs, but it gives me a little more perspective on the need for at least one pocket book. Thoughts?
Perhaps it has something to do with womanhood and power. I remember in my middle school, you didn't carry a purse until you needed to, i.e. you had to carry around feminine hygiene products, or you wanted people to think you needed to. I was of the don't ask/don't tell philosophy so I hid them in my back pack. Some girls were happy to carry purses (i.e. announce their womanhood) and filled them with other trappings of "womanhood" - mirrors, lipstick, NowandLaters (ok, so they weren't a trapping of "womanhood", but they were really popular back in the day. We called them nomalaters. I didn't realize for years that that wasn't their real, albeit odd, name. But I digress.)
The other aspect of handbags is that men don't carry them (lucky bastards). Purses are purely female. (Although some metrosexuals are embracing the idea of carrying around all their crap as well.) It's certainly reasonable for a Mom to need to carry a whole bunch of stuff around. And we, as females, do tend to need more stuff than men, but why is that? Why can't I wear my cell phone in a holster and carry a wallet? Probably because we think ahead and recognize that sometimes we're going to need a pen, a check book, lip balm, tissues, sunglasses, wet naps, gum, etc, etc... Oh, to be male and ignorant (sorry guys). Or maybe I should say, Oh to be male and able to rely on the nearest female for all the things I've forgotten or neglected to carry around with me. Maybe we actually like being the person a man can rely on. We can't always open that jar of pesto without help (the one in my fridge currently is the bain of my existence) but we can pull all sorts of MacGyveresque feats with the contents of our purses.
That still doesn't quite explain the need for a king's ransom of knockoffs, but it gives me a little more perspective on the need for at least one pocket book. Thoughts?
Comments
The theories are boundless!
I DO have a shoe obsession. I've gotten much better about it. I hate cheap shoes and for some reason love payless shoes on everyone else. But can't find a pair there to save my life. My closet is filled with them!
I think I'm going to need to write a post of my own about this purse phenomenon, just to sort out all my thoughts. :P
My purse collection began after I bought a cute red purse that was on sale (at TJ Maxx, for like $12) and began to invision it matching so many things I had. From then on, I would seek out pretty colors in purses for the sake of coordination.
My shoe obsession began as a small child, at which time I had to have every color of those plastic jelly sandals, just had to;>