I have noticed in some TV shows, women with large bags (not just a small purse) seem to be walking around with the bag being held by their elbow joint - with their arm unnaturally bent in a 90 degree angle - as they go places.
Wouldn’t it be far more comfortable to walk around, holding the handles of the bag with your hand and your arm fully extended, like your other arm when you walk?
Probably a stupid question, but it just looks weird and uncomfortable, to be schlepping these huge bags in the elbow joint, with your arm bent, especially if that bag has any real weight involved.
The concept you’re missing is “this handbag was designed to be carried by hand but I need my hands free” (or worse, “but it’s really heavy and carrying it hurts my hands”). While I would never buy a short-handled bag myself (long-handled ones are designed specifically to leave the hands free), I often see other women carry one and move it to their elbow in order to free their hands or even to rest their hands (a heavy-enough handbag’s too-narrow/sharp handles can “cut” into your blood circulation, really hurting your fingers); it is weird, it is uncomfortable, and for many women it comes a point where they can’t do it any more (for a certain combination of weight and bone trouble). But they chose that handbag because it was pretty, the idea that “once I’ve loaded it fully it’s going to be a bitch to carry” either did not enter their minds or was dismissed.
Pretty much what Nava said. Carrying anything of weight is easier at the elbow than at the hand. Aside from the handles possibly hurting the fingers, it’s also a balance issue. Holding things at the hand, they dangle further and can hit at the knees if they’re heavy. At the elbow, it may hit at the hip and it’s less awkward, despite the lower arm sticking out.
Personally, I use a crossbody bag for every day, and a shoulder bag for dressy. I think the elbow bags look silly. However, I use a hand basket at the grocery store, and always carry those at the elbow. That way, I don’t have to put it down to look at things with both hands, and it’s easier to carry when it gets heavy.
You don’t hold it with your hands for reasons explained. You don’t carry it on your shoulder because most women don’t have nice square shoulders that bags stay on.
The only thing “stupid” about the question is that it holds an assumption that something pertaining to women’s fashion is rooted in logic and utilitarianism.
Personally, I don’t get who buys those bags. I need my hands free and having a bag hanging off my elbow is not comfortable, nor does it really accomplish the hands free thing. I need a strap long enough to get my purse onto my shoulder with one motion (i.e. it can’t be so short that my elbow gets stuck) and wide enough that if I have my book and my iPad in my bag (yes, the bag needs to fit a book and an iPad) it doesn’t cut into my shoulder. For a few years I couldn’t buy a new purse because I couldn’t find one that met that requirement).
But, as WhyNot said, you don’t assume women’s fashion is rooted in logic and utilitarianism. Which really seems particularly silly when you are talking about a BAG!
I have an elbow bag. I wonder why this is difficult. I like the straps really close because I can keep it close to my body. I used to use shoulder bags and still have them, but all too often they either slide right off my shoulder (women’s tops are often silky or soft) or they catch my hair. I have long curly hair, and it’s constantly catching in my purse strap if I wear it on my shoulder.
Elbow bags can be carried on the elbow or in the hand. BUT, I never, ever carry a large purse. My largest purse is still smaller than most women’s. I like tiny purses best of all but I need one big enough to hold my tablet.
Has any research bioligist of the male species ever discovered or explained why the female species ever evolved handbags in the first place? What evolutionary or survival need is met by handbags, that the male species has managed to survive without them?
Women’s clothing doesn’t tend to have pockets, which I believe is because pockets and especially pockets-with-things-in-them makes for odd bulges in the clothing and distracts from the aesthetics thereof.
Most women have children at some point in their lives, and are the primary caretakers thereof. Children, especially when young, require more supplies than can easily be carried in even the most generous pockets (if we had them) - so you’re already carrying a bag anyway,
I’m not so sure they have. Over the last 20 or 30 years, I’ve noticed an increasing number of men carrying a bag of some sort. WhenI was young, you would see men carrying a briefcase or possibly a lunch bag only when going to or from work. Now I see men who walk constantly around with backpacks or messenger bags - I suspect it has to do with larger phones and tablets , etc not fitting into even men’s pockets.
It’s also worth noting that the muscles you use to carry a baby around in the crook of your arm are the same muscles you use to carry this type of bag, so if you’ve been carrying babies around on your hip, carrying a big, honkin’ bag might not be such a problem, particularly since it doesn’t squirm as much. Unless there’s a baby inside it, and then we’ve got a whole different deal going on.
Yeah, women’s clothing usually has no pockets or tiny pockets. Sometimes they sew on fake flaps and pretend to have pockets. Presumably we aren’t allowed pockets because the bumps of carried stuff is unsightly on a woman’s outline…or something. Goes hand in hand with the skintight clothing stuff. I also find pocketbooks annoying and easy to lose.
The whole pockets and pocketbooks conundrum frustrated me until I realized somewhere around 15 years old “Fuck it, why don’t I just shop in the mens section”.
I’ve been happily pocketbook-free, and pocket-full, ever since.
I avoid the elbow issue completely by carrying a cross body purse. I call it my auxiliary purse. I do have a bag in which it lives which I carry with me in my car. I only use the bigger bag when I know I will have to carry bigger things. But on the whole, I use my auxiliary purse most often on its own.
Wouldn’t the more logical question be why men don’t use handbags? They are after all fundamentally utilitarian in purpose; a bag to carry stuff around in. At least a handbag doesn’t give you back problems like sitting on a wallet in your back pocket can.
I’d guess it’s because for a whole long time, all men needed to carry was a wallet and a pen. Maybe a pocketwatch. Cigarettes (or cigars) and matches, or tobacco and papers. That’s about it. Perhaps a hip flask.
Back in high school, all the boys would carry their books held in one hand and resting against the lower arm or body. Sort of like this. All the girls would carry them by holding their elbows bent so the book up against the chest something like this.
All the boys except one. My friend, who lived in his own little world and never noticed that he was the only boy. I really didn’t notice until some girl pointed it out.
Try it. It actually is physically easier to carry something with your elbows bent up because you are getting better leverage.
Also try carrying a backpack or something else with handles in the two styes and it’s much easier to carry it on your elbow. If you let a heavy bag swing around your knees, it takes a lot of work. Putting the handle near the elbow joint give you maximum leverage.
I’m a guy, but the designated means of transport for out toddler, and it’s actually pretty comfortable. But I don’t think I’m going to run out and get a bag to carry that way.
