# Guys carring a purse type bag? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415 "2012-02-01T14:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Lady\_Within](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@The\_Lady\_Within](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lady_Within)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/1 "2012-02-01T14:11:18Z")
So my question is :: if a guy carries a bag like a women carries a purse, should I be asking some questions of him?šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/2 "2012-02-01T14:29:02Z")
Do you know this guy? If not, then itā€™s none of your business. If you do, what sort of questions do you have in mind? Do you like the bag and want to know where he got it so you can get one like it too or something? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/3 "2012-02-01T14:54:21Z")
Or is he just standing there holding his wifeā€™s purse? There are only a few ways to hold one of those things, and women have claimed all of them. So unless he is hanging it from his unit, heā€™s probably holding it like a chick. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/4 "2012-02-01T15:01:57Z")
Excellent user name/post combo! ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/5 "2012-02-01T15:04:57Z")
Not sure it really means anything. I have a laptop bag that I often carry with me. An easy way to carry my wallet, keys, cell phone, work id, cell phone charger, and a book. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/6 "2012-02-01T15:30:04Z")
I often carry a bag that I have a pen, tissue, antacids, jacket, and other things I may find useful. It also has clean up stuff, chews, treats, other things my puppy may need and the logo of the guide dog school it belongs to. If you are a woman looking date, it could be a guy with a bag is a poor prospect. Otherwise, in this day and age, so what. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/7 "2012-02-01T16:01:17Z")
What sort of questions did you think you should ask? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/8 "2012-02-01T16:03:41Z")
> [@The\_Lady\_Within](#): > > . . . should I be asking some questions of him?šŸ˜• Like what? (Not that it matters, the answer is ā€œno.ā€) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/9 "2012-02-01T16:20:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Or is he just standing there holding his wifeā€™s purse? There are only a few ways to hold one of those things, and women have claimed all of them. So unless he is hanging it from his unit, heā€™s probably holding it like a chick. When my GF has me hold her purse for whatever reason, I hold it in a way that no woman would, a la [this](http://goodhusbanding.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Man_Holding_Purse_2_85_Transparent.jpg), out and away from me like itā€™s radioactive waste. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/10 "2012-02-01T16:24:24Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When my GF has me hold her purse for whatever reason, I hold it in a way that no woman would, a la [this](http://goodhusbanding.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Man_Holding_Purse_2_85_Transparent.jpg), out and away from me like itā€™s radioactive waste. I pay a passing urchin to hold it. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/11 "2012-02-01T16:31:02Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When my GF has me hold her purse for whatever reason, I hold it in a way that no woman would, a la [this](http://goodhusbanding.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Man_Holding_Purse_2_85_Transparent.jpg), out and away from me like itā€™s radioactive waste. Thatā€™s just asking for it to be snatched. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/12 "2012-02-01T16:36:59Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Thatā€™s just asking for it to be snatched. ā€¦and wind up with a bag full of used tissues, a water bottle, and a pair of dollar store ear buds. I should be so lucky. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/13 "2012-02-01T16:45:00Z")
When I have to hold the wifeā€™s back I just hold it. It doesnā€™t bother me at all. It is obvious it isnā€™t mine, so no sense in getting ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/14 "2012-02-01T16:56:53Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > ā€¦and wind up with a bag full of used tissues, ā€¦ In that case I donā€™t blame you for treating it like radioactive waste. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/15 "2012-02-01T20:15:31Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When my GF has me hold her purse for whatever reason, I hold it in a way that no woman would, a la [this](http://goodhusbanding.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Man_Holding_Purse_2_85_Transparent.jpg), out and away from me like itā€™s radioactive waste. An [alternative](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuScm9FZPmQ)solution, for uncompromising men. > [@RandMcnally](#): > > When I have to hold the wifeā€™s back I just hold it. It doesnā€™t bother me at all. It is obvious it isnā€™t mine, so no sense in getting ashamed. My dad was never bothered by carrying my momā€™s purse, particularly when she was dealing with us three kids or taking pictures on vacation. Which is why we have 3 years worth of photos of the family in Europe with my dad holding a purse. In a similar veinā€¦[Iggy Pop](http://ofcorsetsadrag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/419781_372150842802426_119872344696945_1841673_322119447_n.jpg) is not ashamed to ā€œdress like a womanā€, because it isnā€™t shameful to be a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/16 "2012-02-01T21:05:47Z")
I had a colleague who carried a small purse. He wore a suit and didnā€™t want any wallet-shaped bulges. He certainly wasnā€™t effeminate in any way, just vain. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/17 "2012-02-01T21:08:15Z")
Is he wearing a kilt? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/18 "2012-02-01T21:15:00Z")
My son carries what he calls a ā€œmurseā€ to school. (Heā€™s a junior in high school.) The student handbook has all these elaborate rules about what you can and canā€™t carry. Students canā€™t use their backpacks, for example, to carry books between classes. But the handbook does allow purses that meet certain size criteria, which his murse meets. I was just waitinā€™ for the school administration to give him grief about is so I could go all ACLU on their asses for denying male students something that female students are allowed. But no one has said ā€œbooā€ to him about it. My son seems normal enough. The murse is a convenient way for him to carry a notebook, pens, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/19 "2012-02-01T21:15:56Z")
You might want to sidle up to him and ask, ā€œIs that your purse? Thatā€™s a nice purse.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415/20 "2012-02-01T21:18:49Z")
Some guys just love shouting ā€œItā€™s not a purse!ā€ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-carring-a-purse-type-bag/611415.md?page=2)