I have given up trying to figure out what my wife is upto with her obsession of  massive handbags. Big new ones appear each week at home. In the morning, a new one is selected for the day. Its takes a while for complete ‘content transfer’. In the car, the phone in the handbag rings, and since the bag is almost the size of a cave, it takes forever to find the irritating ringing thingy in the tunnel – by which time the caller gives up and hangs up. Each new store we visit, she first heads to ‘womens bags’

Why are women fascinated by big handbags? And why do they buy new ones ever so often?

  • It’s primitive DNA gene:

I think women were the hoarders or safe keepers in the caves and that’s why clutching bushel like parcels is hard wired in their brains. The bag replicates that experience – it makes them feel that they are in possession of something very material and hence the comfort of the big wobbly cushiony thing near them.

  • It is a baby-cradling fetish:

The bag is a surrogate baby. Cradling and holding it delivers the same effect. Stuffed with things women never use, the weight and proportion is almost that of a baby. It’s a good way to feel.

  • Its that industrious feeling:

In India, women in rural areas carry  large water vessels on their heads. Or on their waist. It makes them industrious. Some toil with sickles in the paddy fields. Are handbags the avant garde tools of industriousness of the modern woman ?

  • It feels like protection

These large handbags are perfect for swinging and protection.  Think of carrying a soft manageable boulder hanging out with you. A swig or two can do the job. It’s a nice feel safe thing.

  • None of the above – women are just richer than men.

The economics of the handbag business are mind boggling. Women buy them like clothes and its just plain simple economics – They have a better cash flow than us men.

I’ve given up reasoning and hope to get some answers.  And watch out – the next handbag is going to become the trolley bag.  I’m gonna get my car an overhead bin!