A few months ago, I decided to dress up as a man at my friend’s 30th birthday party. The theme was 1930s SpeakEasy.

My attire consisted of a moustache, man wig, black hat, white suit, black shirt, black “men looking” business shoes, red braces and tie, and of course a cigar. The look was perfect apart from a certain item that didn’t cross my mind at all: where am I going to store my deodorant, money and ID card? My suit didn’t have any pockets. I was the only man walking around with a handbag. Since then I’ve been obsessed with this question “Why is it that men do not carry handbags?” 

Well for a start:

• Men do not walk around with make up or female stuff. All they need is money, keys and phones.
• Men trousers pockets are usually larger than women. They can easily fit in everything they need.
• Women are hoarders. Men are just practical. Most women will be perfectly fine with half the content of their bags. It doesn’t help that most women walk around with humongous bags. Just as eating using a bigger plate makes you eat more, the bigger the bag, the more excuse to carry our whole lives in there.

Those are well known facts. But we’re only scrapping the surface here. The unspoken reason why men do not carry handbags is because they are expected to carry their other half handbags.

I was on holiday by the beach and I thought I put my theory to the test. The amount of men on the beach wearing speedos and female handbags was overwhelming and ironic. I’ve noticed the same phenomenon at airports. Have a coffee on Saturday/Sunday in a busy shopping centre and count the number of men walking around with female bags or shopping. Do you believe me now?

I guess, unconsciously, men avoid having to always carry two bags (theirs and their loved ones). It will be too heavy and cumbersome. Therefore, they pack everything they need in their pockets, and free up their arms for our (women) stuff.

I will be interested to hear what you think about my theory. I bet you’ll be walking around scanning the place to test it out. Start counting. You will be surprised….