spot_img

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

spot_img
spot_img

Latest News

spot_img

If walking along the street or hanging out in shopping mall in China, you will find an unusual phenomenon compared with western countries – when a couple appears, women seldom have handbags in their arms while a number of men carry purses which belong to their girlfriends or wives.

According to a thirty-minute observation in Xinjiekou (the commercial center of Nanjing with plenty of shopping malls), about 7 of 10 men held other half’s bag if they did not have anything else to take. It was interesting to notice that different man had diverse “bag gesture”. For instance, some took it in hands, some held it in arms, and some hung the belt around necks. Most of them walked with their partners, talking and smiling. There were also several frowning men who looked unhappy.

An interview conducted with six people passing by showed that five of them claimed this behavior should be encouraging. In other words, they believed that men should help women to carry purses. “It seems my boyfriend very considerate if he holds my handbag, and I feel proud,” Peggy, a 19-year-old girl said. Peggy’s boyfriend stood beside her, carrying her purse. “You know girls’ physical strength is weaker than boys’, especially after walking a long way. So taking a handbag is a good approach to ease their burden,” her boyfriend added.

Are these words really true? There is no doubt that some girls’ handbags are too big and too heavy for them to carry for a long time. However, most women just put money, cards, keys, mobile phone and cosmetics in purse, which means the total weight is less than one kilogram. In today’s China, a pupil’s schoolbag is much heavier than women’s purse. Moreover, purses’ volume is small in general. Since their physical strength is enough to carry purse, why don’t women take the handbag themselves but want men help?

“The weight of bag is not important. What really matter is your attitude towards whether to carry her purse or not. When she sees other men carrying the bag but you don’t, perhaps a quarrel about ‘do you love me’ will break out soon, so it is better to take her handbag,” David commented. “You know every woman has vanity, and they want to show how nice their partners are to others,” he added .

Not only women but men have their own consideration. A noticeable part of the observation was that men tend to carry purses which had the same or similar color to their clothes. If their shirt and coat were in simple color, they were unlikely to carry bright-colored bags, otherwise they were worried whether they looked that strange. A passerby said, “I’m willing to take my wife’s black bag because black can fit any color of my clothes.” Another interesting example is about Mark, who is a Scotsman who has lived in Nanjing for over twenty years. Mark’s wife is Chinese, and as is often the case, controls the family’s money. Therefore, as well as being happy to carry her bag, Mark also feels a sense of power at holding control over that which he usually cannot. In simple terms, he can stop his wife from buying that which he feels unnecessary.

Some interviewees connected this phenomenon with gender inequality. They thought if women needed to prove their own value by letting man carry purse, women still do not have an independent personality. Therefore, women should maintain a normal attitude towards their partners’ choice. “It is ok that men help women to carry bags if their status is equal, which means the woman in a relationship has no psychology of showing off,” a 34-year-old woman named Jane continued. “ My husband is willing to hold my handbag at present, so I let him take it. It is more relaxed when your hands and arms are free after all. Perhaps one day the romance would be gone, and he would tell me he does not want to carry my purse anymore, and then I would carry that myself. There is no difference whether he takes my bag or not.”

- Advertisement -

Local Reviews

spot_img

OUTRAGEOUS!

Regional Briefings