The Man Purse
The Man Purse: A Handy Way to Wear Tighter Pants
You know how in the United States people make fun of men who carry purses or things that look like purses? That doesn't happen here in France. I don't think it's a step towards gender fluidity because France has some very male roles and some very female roles. But when it comes to the man purse or "murse" the rules are not the same as in the US. There is nothing shameful in carrying a small bag with your belongings in it. But there are still some restrictions.The bag that men carry here does have a few requirements. It needs to be a cross body bag. If you can only hang it on your wrist it's too girly. It needs to be small enough to only carry your essential items. It also needs to be masculine in design. No bows or studs. Usually it's just black with a few pockets. What is kept in those bags are wallets, car keys, cell phones, check books, and sometimes sunglasses. Not much else really fits anyways. And if your boyfriend carries around a man purse, don't think of asking him to hold one of your things in it, it bruises his masculinity apparently.
But why do they have these bags? I think, and I am using examples from Paris, so I could be wrong, but I think that their pants are too tight to keep all these things in their pockets. You think I'm making this up but Parisian men wear TIGHT pants. So tight that nothing really fits in the pockets, so they carry their little bag with them so that they can continue to wear tight pants. Its either carry a purse or wear looser pants. And since many of them are peacocks here, they choose the tight pants route. So no, they are not any less masculine here in France that in the United States. Masculinity is defined differently here. Instead of baggy pants that sag it's a pair of (a little too) well fitting pants.
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