So why do men carry books under their arm and women carry them against their chest?
I doubt that there’s any real answer to this but it might be because guys tend to be stronger and can carry books with one arm. When I get tired I tend to hug my books against my chest though I normally carry them under my arm.
Kitty
Well damn.
Give me a logical answer right away and kill my thread.
Thanks, that’s a good explanation.
The way women are constructed helps out a lot, too. Ever notice how mothers can hold those 10 or 15+ pound babies for seemingly endless stretches of time? Reason as I see it: there’s not much “holding” being done, other than holding the kid upright. Because of their natural curviness, women can use their hip as a sort of “shelf” on which the kid can sit.
I’ll wager much the same thing is going on with books.
Really? I always thought they did that just to foil my ogling. Well, damn.
So tell me, why do women really wear clothes? 
See, The women need to carry bookage (similar to cleavage, but not) in front of their pectoral muscles to make sure that they don’t poke someone’s eye out with those things…I mean, someone has to be cautious about that - it’s all fun and games until someone gets a pectoral (eh, boob) in the eye.
So tell me, why do women really wear clothes? **
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IIIII don’t wear clothes, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Nudist colonies!!! CHA!!!
Slug’s illustration for This Column amply demonstrates the basis for this concern.
I know who LittleStar is!! :)!
I got into the habit of carrying things in front of my chest when I was the first girl in my class to develop.
Staring is all right and fine when I’m expecting it, but it could be a little disconcerting at an early age, and I think I learned to protect my chest rather young.
Ah, but more important is where LittleStar is… 
Hahaha… Yes, I suppose that where I am WOULD be a rather important factor…but I’ll leave that little tidbit of information unsaid…just use your imagination. Ooooo…
Really? damn, I coulda sworn I was holding my 10 lb + newborn infant totally…
Here’s a piece of advice for ya : don’t ever try to suggest that any aspect of motherhood is “not much to it”, ok ? we’ve got a powerful union… 
Well, there’s no hip-shelving going on when I carry my books, at least. If I tried to do any kind of hip-shelf thing, my books would be too far down to cover my chest – after all, the books are only about a foot long. At that point the books aren’t being held to one’s chest but one’s stomach.
I usually carry my books in a bag of some sort so I have my hands free, but when for whatever reason I do carry my books in my arms I hold them too my chest because i can never get them balanced if i hold them one-armed, I have too many books. If I’m only carrying one or two textbooks and no loose paper, I’ll carry them under one arm.
I only tend to carry my books in front of me, when in a crowd.
It’s a protective shield from random elbows and thumbs, it is.
Not to mention groping hands…