On the golf course there can be times the sun is so baking hot that the golf umbrella is the quickest and easiest instant relief. I’ve used it many times for that.
Valgame Dios!
Yes, that’s why the word literally means “little shadow.” 
I’m allergic to the sun. I think carrying a parasol would be the least weird thing I could do. In early summer I generally have to wear a broad-brimmed hat, sun-protective long-sleeved jacket and sometimes gloves. By late summer I usually have built up a tolerance and can get by with just the hat. But the point is, sometimes you have to look ridiculous for your own good.
With your username, I have the most amusing picture in my head of martini olives marching forth under the shade of teeny tiny drink parasols… 
Also, it only blocks UV; if you are trying to stay cool it doesn’t do anything.
Depends on how big the parasol is and what your goal is; a 3 foot or more wide sun hat would be both awkward and silly looking. And a parasol can be angled more easily for maximum coverage. But a hat of course leaves both hands free.
Several of the foreign students do this at my university. They walk to and from the campus and don’t want to brown their skin. I think it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
I live near Memphis, TN and I am a woman.
When I used to walk my children to school (they go to a different school and take the bus now) I noticed that a great many of the Hispanic mothers and (especially) grandmothers carried umbrellas to block the sun. It gets incredibly hot here, and I always thought it seemed very smart, although I never did it, because I am lazy.
I have only seen this done by Asian women. It’s usually on a very hot day,a nd my only thoughts are “What a great idea!” and “A black one would work better than that red/pink.”
I think it’s a perfectly sensible idea.
I see Chinese women using umbrellas for shade from time to time (including my wife, on occasion). No fluffy/papery parasols, though.
I love it!
The correct answer is a question:
How big are her boobs?
I’ve seen women of all ages carrying parasols for quite a few years now. It just makes sense, especially if someone is very fair and/or susceptible to sunburn and skin cancer. And it really does make a temperature difference, and if you have to be out in the Texas heat between noon and about 4 PM, you might really need that bit of relief.
I’ve seen women carrying parasols more frequently in recent years here in summer. It makes sense - they’re far more effective than a hat if you want to shade yourself from the sun.
I have a white one and my daughter a black one. We bought them at the Huntingdon Library in LA after trying them out and just being really taken with them. (We also bought two really old-fashioned hats).
We didn’t use them much because they do look a little silly, but they were also really rather useful; up on the roof terrace my friends and I took it in turns to get some relief from the sun beating down on our heads while still enjoying the sun in general.
My daughter is exactly that sort of person (and 13) and loves her parasol, though she’d only use it in certain situations in England - hot and also somewhere she’s unlikely to get teased for unusual clothing.
A parasol covers more than a sunhat and doesn’t mess up your hair. Obviously for yardwork it’s not practical.
I have a foldable umbrella that lives in my handbag. I use it for rainy days, and extremely sunny days.
And yes, I’ve heard of sunscreen and hats. I prefer my umbrella for several reasons.
As mentioned above, sunscreen needs to be reapplied periodically, and it needs to be a fairly high UV factor down here, which means it’s not enough just to use the light moisturising lotion sunscreens. You have to use the thicker, heavier stuff. If you want to protect the top of your head from the sun (skin cancers in hair partings are not unheard of) you have to put sunscreen in your hair (eww) or wear a hat. Which on a 40C day is going to make your head sweat more than ever - not something I really want to deal with when I’m on my way to work, or going out after work. Plus a hat only covers your face and neck. Your arms and shoulders - hell, the rest of your body - are still exposed. The sun is also very hot. Which is a bit of a duh statement, but beyond the UV burn, the intensity of the sun down here means that even with longer sleeves on, you can still feel the heat through your clothes.
When the air itself is so hot that the inside of your mouth feels cool by comparison, having a portable source of shade can almost be a lifesaver.
I don’t have a special parasol that I use, but on sunny days when I am forced to stay somewhere without shade for long periods of time (e.g. waiting at the bus stop), I often use an umbrella. It makes sense in extremely changeable climates too (like many places in Asia in the summer), as it may well be bright sunshine one moment and pouring down rain the next. If I’m already carrying a small foldable umbrella, it makes more sense than a hat (cute hats generally won’t fit in a purse) and sunblock doesn’t cool you down.
This thread is making me consider purchasing a parasol
I’ve known (immigrant) Korean girls here who bemoan the L.A. sun because they’re so adverse to even the slightest tanning, and they try to get excused from PE class specifically because of it.
Now the other thing I think interesting is that no one has batted an eye at the specification of women carrying parasols. Never, ever have I seen a parasol in the hands of a dude, unless he’s using it to shade his girlfriend.