i thought it was a defensive posture - girls shield their breasts while boys shield their crotch.
Also, if we’re talking biomechanics, I’ve read that because women have on average narrower shoulders and wider hips, women typically carry their arms differently than men while walking; if women walked exactly like men they’d be constantly whacking their hips with their hands, so they don’t. It just occurred to me that something carried at leg height might well be more prone to irritatingly constantly whacking into the side of their leg. I don’t have a bunch of women available to test that hypothesis, though.
Girls being “on guard” for hours a day? Doesn’t seem likely.
Something carried at leg level would whack me on the legs as well, unless the bag were held very carefully. This is part of things just being easier to carry at arm level.
Ah, yes, when there are boys around for hours a day, it’s very likely.
Little girls hold their bags and books down. It very much starts as a boob shield around fifth or sixth grade when they have breast buds but not yet hips. That it’s more comfortable and biomechanically efficient to use the bicep rather than the deltoid when you develop hips is entirely serendipitous.
Boob shield, makes sense but it never clicked with me. I always just thought the way girls carried books looked mincing and the way boys carried books looked stronger (I guess if it takes more effort that is true!) and so I made a point to carry my books down at my side because I wanted to grow up awesome like all the men I saw.
What she said. ^This. THIS. THIS!
The Unionbay bag that meets my needs perfectly. The strap lengthens to double the length of what’s shown in the picture and its crossbody design is the easiest and most practical way to carry (plus it’s stylish and inexpensive).
DMark there’s a basic flaw in your thinking. Fashion Rule #1: Its not about comfort.
We are different species now? Anyway, it has not always been the case that men did not carry purses. As for what modern women need them for that men don’t: tampons, pads, cosmetics, and haircare items.
I always just put it down to women’s different body build and physics. To me, it’s always felt like less effort to carry heavy babies, purses, schoolbooks, and even full bags of groceries in the crook of my arm.
You know a very, very different selection of men than I do…
Yes, it is. Sure, when choosing a purse the style might overrule comfort and a woman picks a purse she likes not thinking or caring if it’s too large or heavy. But DMark’s question wasn’t about style of purse, it was about how it’s carried, and several female posters (including the first 3 responses) have indicated that it’s simply more comfortable to carry a large purse at the elbow than by hand. Women carry other items like this (e.g. shopping baskets and babies in car seats); items that men carry by hand. I agree with Chicken Fingers and others and think it boils down to arm and grip strength.
There’s no difference between men’s and momen’s arms. Anyone gets better leverage holding it that way.
Actually as I recall there is some; women’s arms are attached at a slightly different angle because of their narrower shoulders.
The difference is strength. I agree that a man might get better leverage in the elbow, and in fact I think I remember contestants in the Worlds Strongest Man competition lift things this way. However, the weights we’re talking about here are relatively small and nothing a typical male can’t manage by hand.
Oh yes. It’s not about the risk of someone bumping against you - it’s about your tits hurting.
All.
The.
Time.
For several years.
Much like the male nipple, the male handbag is a some what useful iteration without delivering full functionality.
Men of my father’s generation make their wives carry all the stuff they want but that don’t fit in the pockets.
On the other hand, Madeline Albright never carried a purse. She always made her date or Secret Service agent put her lipstick and cellphone in his pockets. Bodyguards make the best accessories.
OT: a lot of those big bags you see are mostly empty. Stuffing them with things ruins the look.
This still happens. I don’t mind carrying a few things in my purse for my husband, but I did finally flip out on him one day and explain that it is a purse, not a husband diaper bag, after he asked to carry one too many things in my purse.
When I was wearing a full cast on my left arm, I got use to carrying things between my stomach and my arm-bent-at-90-degrees. I still do it.