GUYS, have you ever spent 5 minutes getting ready to go somewhere only to spend an hour looking for your wallet, your keys, or your phone? Well fret no more! Were you aware there has already been an invention designed hundreds of years ago to keep your personal items in one place when you leave the house? This item would be your right hand man. It goes with your outfit AND it holds your stuff. Even better, no one would question you for having a big one or a little one. No one bothers to care what is in it. In fact, there's unspoken rules and social stigmas preventing other people from searching it--sometimes even people in authority, out of respect. It's the purse.
As for WOMEN, we all have a love-hate relationship with our purse. It's that best friend you keep around because she's known you forever and knows all your secrets so you should probably stay on her good side...not necessarily because you really like her as a friend at this point. But what does it mean to carry a purse?
Why is it jarring to see a purse as part of a man's wardrobe? It is an icon of the female experience--often marking the beginning of adulthood for women, as well as independence, privacy, and property. I'm jumping on the gender bending bandwagon and putting a twist on a popular symbol of femininity--the purse. Shooting this series prompted me to find a cause worthy of challenging the female identity. I want to make art that not only poses a question, but provides something tangible in regards to the question it's posing.
Genesis House II is a shelter that helps homeless women create a better future for themselves and their families with the help of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. As I began my journey photographing men with purses from all over the U.S., I asked for small donations like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and snacks to build care packages for the women in this shelter. But as my outreach grew, I started receiving purses themselves. Big purses. Purses with histories and scars. Purses with stories and pasts. Purses filled with makeup, jewelry, food, deodorant, you name it. From one woman's arm to the next, these care packages are a new source of identity, a new beginning, and a clean slate. So when I sat down and wrote about this experience, I decided to do some research on the history of our beloved pocketbook. And turns out, the purse actually signifies a huge paradigm shift in the way women began to face the world independently.
1. The purse started out as a guy thing--just like high heels.
The first was found with Otzi the Iceman in 3300 B.C. In 15th century Europe, men gave embroidered purses to their brides. Later, they were used to carry coins by both genders. With the expansion of the railway network, men had luggage for their travels and women only had tiny purses. Until entrepreneur Samuel Parkinson demanded his wife get her own set of cases designed for travel. He required the bags to be of the same sturdy leather as his, but in varying sizes and colors for specific occasions--thus, the birth of designer handbags.
2. The purse is symbolic of a woman’s introduction to the workforce and independence.
During World War II, women became laborers, leaving behind the idea that their place only existed in the home. In order to acclimate to this new space of society, a female laborer would pack a purse to bring the domestic sphere to her job. It became a mainstream accessory at this time by assisting women with their new freedoms and providing a sense of privacy and property. Some argue that the larger the purse, the more independent the woman, considering it contains valuables belonging to her.
3. The value of a purse is not determined by a price tag.
A 2014 study conducted by the Entrepreneur's Foundation surveyed 400 women between the ages 18-74 and observed a trend in the value of quality over price when buying a handbag. Regardless of its contents or cost, we do not let it leave our sight. It sits in our laps, it hangs by our shoulders, it remains within our view, an extension of ourselves. You can't put a price on an item that will always be at your side.
4. Purses serve as biographical totems for women with dementia by helping them regain a sense of self and past life.
Because women spend so much of our lives carrying a purse, it's embedded in our muscle memory, like second nature, or knowing to put on your shoes before stepping outside. For those with dementia, material objects help prompt memory retrieval. Sociologists Julia Twigg and Christina Buse interviewed women with dementia and found that their handbags were the strongest totem in triggering their memories and sense of self.
5. A woman will own 111 purses in her lifetime.
It's a toolkit containing secrets of her livelihood, items to help her achieve her goals, and aids to assist in an emergency. The fashion industry has made it necessary to have one for each outfit. Our pants have pockets that are sewn shut so we can't put things in them. The designer handbags dominate the shelves.
6. Purses are markers of public social status.
The average celebrity has been photographed candidly in sweatpants but always with a thousand dollar bag. The inherent function of a purse was to carry and display a person's wealth. They also contain a variety of provisions that control the way we are viewed by the public--make-up, hair accessories, money, photos, totems, forms of identity, etc. The handbag, while remaining a part of our territory and social space, is also used to claim our territory when we reserve a spot for ourselves.
7. Some women consider the purse a feminist issue.
They compare purses to makeup, considering them both to be created by men in order to occupy our time and money. They choose not to participate in what they call "purse culture," arguing that it fuels the stereotype of women as vulnerable and stationary--they must be looked after, they can be stolen, and they accompany a woman everywhere she goes. It paints a picture that women are not mobile individuals that can accomplish life's daily tasks without having tools to assist them.
8. Some men protest their right to carry a purse.
A boy in Kansas got suspended for wearing a Vera Bradley purse to school. Vera Bradley responded by giving him two free purses and a statement saying the company "creates products that allow all of us to express our individual style [and] encourage[s] self-expression through color and design." More companies are releasing "man purses" exclusively and capitalizing on breaking the social stigma of men wearing them.
9. There’s such a thing as a “pussy pouch” and Beyonce carries one.
Rachel Feinberg designed a purse that is basically a square clutch with a cloth vagina on the front. She designed the pouch to fight "manspreading," the act of men sitting in public in a display of comfort, occupying as much space as will allow, with no regard for those sharing the space around them. Feinberg says she got tired of seeing men seated like this in restaurants or on trains and finding women hunched over their big handbags, placed in their laps, trying to avoid taking up any room, attempting to appear as small as possible.
10. The purse predisposes women at an early age to be prepared for anything.
No child is ever ready for puberty. It's an impressionable age to have to worry about planning ahead on top of feeling awkward. But girls learn quickly that we have to keep track of our cycle and know how to prepare our future selves by having a purse at our sides. As soon as the girl transitions into womanhood, the purse transforms into a provider and personal assistant. Enclosed are our keys to what we are told makes us women.
11. A woman’s purse is considered private property.
It's off-limits for almost everyone. Even security guards are weary of searching women's bags. I read an article of a man who was told his bag wasn't allowed into a concert venue. After seeing herds of girls get through with their purses, he told the security guard it was his purse. The security guard laughed, asking "Are you a woman?" and refused to let the man pass. The purse is an exclusive ticket allotted only to the female experience. Mississippi has proposed a bill even stating that someone can carry a gun in their purse without needing a concealed carry permit.
Tag #menwithpurses in your own photos to show support!
Sources:
www.althouse.com
www.newhumanist.org.uk
www.stuffmomnevertoldyou.com
www.truthinmedia.com
www.reddit.com
www.breitbart.com
www.wikipedia.org
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