From The Life Of Marsupials - Image

Raking the twentieth bag out of the closet, I was struck by a terrible guess: “Oh, Lord! It seems like many years ago I married a kangaroo! " And I immediately began to remember strange episodes from our life together …

Episode one

Second hour of shopping. Purchases - zero ("Something I don't like anything"). In response to a timid offer to return home: "Well, perhaps to buy some handbag …" Why? For what? There is nowhere to put them already!

Episode two

Holding an armful of bags in my hands, I turn to my wife: “Do you want to get rid of something? Some of them you have not worn for a long time …”. The collection is thoroughly revised, after which only one copy is discarded. Moreover, in my man's opinion, the "wallet" is good for everyone - comfortable, roomy, almost new. I don’t understand … Why should I throw it away?

Episode three

It would seem that a simple request: "Darling, get some wet wipes there" - can easily cause a "freeze" of the male brain. Firstly, it can take five to seven minutes to find napkins in the bowels of the marsupial (this is a real figure!). Secondly, THREE different packs of wipes (regular, antibacterial and make-up remover) were obtained. Why so much ?! Later it turned out that the fourth package was simply not noticed - for wiping the optics …

From the listed cases, an unambiguous conclusion can be drawn: a handbag is an unplowed virgin land for any psychologist! But as soon as I decided to understand the psychology of women's handbags in more detail, I immediately found out that I was already ahead. Back in 1945, New York Times journalist Anita Daniel suggested creating a separate science called bagology. Bagology had to answer the question: "What can be said about a person by his bag and its contents?"

Unfortunately, science is not engaged in such research today. What do modern women carry with them? Functionally, the content hasn't changed much. But the number of “wearing units” themselves has increased. If women of the forties of the last century got by with three or four items for beauty, then modern young ladies often take a small cosmetic studio with them. Modern women have three times more things! Two pencils and a pen? No matter how it is! Many people carry around filled pencil cases with them.

What has changed fundamentally? First, today ladies often carry books with them. Or at least some kind of "gloss". Second: self-defense equipment (for example, stun guns) appeared in the handbags of modern women. Third: despite the popularity of various kinds of diets, there is always something to eat in the bowels of your favorite accessory. At best, it can be an apple or some kind of fitness bar, and at worst, three hundred grams of sweets and last year's cookies.

When a man looks at the list of things that a woman likes to take with her, his hair stands on end: "Why do they need all this ?!" There can be several psychologically sound answers (interpretations).

First, a person is a creature who adapts to the world through instrumental activity. What is in a woman's bag are the tools that help to survive in the modern urban jungle. And that there are a lot of things, this is also logical - every year life becomes more complicated and unpredictable. It is quite possible to wake up in the morning somewhere in a quiet suburb, in the afternoon to correspond to the image of a corporation, and in the evening to get on a plane and go to Amsterdam to have dinner with herring.

There is even a special term - "nomadism". We are all nomads, “urban nomads” who are mobile and carry with them everything they need to maintain this mobility. I will tell you a secret that modern men carry with them not much less "supplies". It's just that for women everything you need is stored in a bag, and for men it is distributed in numerous pockets.

Secondly, a woman is programmed by nature to take care of others. A man captures the living space, and a woman equips him, creates comfort. Up to sixty percent of things in a woman's bag can only be conditionally called "personal" - they are there to take care of someone (or for the sake of showing to someone).

Remember at the beginning of the article there was an example about four types of wet wipes? So, antibacterial ones were needed in order to wipe the hands of a child, and wipes for wiping optics were intended primarily for her husband's gadgets.

Thirdly, the contents of the purse are the life world of a woman in miniature. The more "my" things in this world, the safer I feel. Personal items are familiar and safe objects that I can fully control.

People with low basic confidence in the world, with increased anxiety, and low self-esteem try to surround the space around them with familiar things. This allows them to be more confident in themselves, more relaxed. The bag (and the things in it) can be a kind of "transitional object" for a woman - a magical thing that gives emotional protection to a little girl going out into the big world.

How can the above interpretations help in real life? They help to get answers to the question raised by Anita Daniel: "What can her bag say about the hostess?" These answers can be summarized as three key laws of bagology:

one

Of all the properties of this accessory, perhaps the most informative is the size. The larger the bag (and the more things it contains), the more pronounced such feminine traits as "motherly" care for everyone and everyone, the desire for stability and security.

Does the lady prefer a clutch with a minimum of items inside? This is more interesting! Most likely, this indicates a "woman in character" (graceful, stylish, romantic) or a "woman in search" (not burdened with worries, but ready for someone to take care of her).

Of the medium sizes, the so-called A4-size messenger bag is curious. If the design is strict, the color is dull, and all the items are neatly arranged in numerous pockets, then its owner is undoubtedly a “business woman” with great career prospects, practical and disciplined.

2

When dealing with men, women often use a handbag as a physical barrier, a shield. If during a conversation a lady begins to slowly study something in the bowels of the reticule, she is not interested in a man, it is time to end the conversation. A request to carry a woman's bag or even find something in it is a sign of the highest trust!

3

Women buy expensive and stylish accessories not so much for themselves, and not even for men, but in order to impress other women. There is scientific evidence about women who suffer from the real "bag addiction" - they buy three expensive "brand" copies every year.

The reason for "bag addiction" is the cooling in relations with a partner, doubts that they love her (the status "everything is complicated"). Against this background, all the ladies around her are perceived by the woman as potential rivals who can "take away" her man. An expensive accessory is like a "Stop!" for competitors. This is a signal: “Everything is great with us! See what bag I have? (Let them think that he gave it to me!)"

Of course, "bag addiction" can arise for other reasons: the desire to always "be in a fashionable trend"; encourage yourself, cheer up; demonstrate a certain lifestyle, etc.

But if there are too many bags in your life, then perhaps it will not be superfluous to go to a psychologist. And together with him, figure out what role these objects play in your life. Is your "marsupial" an obsessive addiction, psychological protection from some fears or problems in relationships? Or is it just a little innocent feminine weakness.

Great women and their bags

One of the most expensive accessories in the world - the Birkin bag - was born thanks to the singer Jane Birkin, who for a long time told Jean-Louis Dumas, the art director of the Hermes Fashion House, what a “dream bag” should be. The Gucci Jackie O handbag got its name in honor of the lover of this model, Jacqueline Kennedy (after her second husband Onassis - hence O). After the first lady of France Bernadette Chirac presented the latest Dior model to the English princess Diana, she was named Lady Dior (as "Lady Di").