I was recently talking with some feminist friends about blog ideas. In general I just write about whatever is pissing me off as pertains to women, politics, food, theatre, etc. The subject of our lack of pockets came up. This spawns two areas of critique. One: why don’t women have pockets built into their clothes as ALL men’s clothes do? And two: is this the reason behind pocketbooks or purses?
First of all, in general, women’s pants have tiny pockets you could barely fit a key into. Skirts and dresses almost never have them. If you do find a skirt or a dress with pockets, you are going to pay a pretty penny for that item. Even suit jackets, those that do have pockets, have tiny outside pockets you might be able to squeeze a phone into. My husband’s suit jackets have two large pockets on the outside and often one or two internal pockets. He’s the one who has to carry my shit when we go to a wedding.
Why is this? Does anyone know? I mean, is the reason we don’t have pockets built into our clothes so that we have to buy a matching pocketbook for every item we own? Nice purses cost big money. I have friends who pay hundreds of dollars for their purses. $60 is a splurge for me. (This story changes drastically when we are discussing shoes, however. We all have our edge!)
Let’s talk about what women NEED to carry, at minimum. I will only reference myself here as this differs from chick to chick. Tampons or Pads. (Yes, only for a week or so a month, but for some women, that arrival day is never predictable.) Lipstick. Or some kind of lip ointment. Phone. Keys. Emory board in case you break a nail. Business cards. Cash. Quarters if you have to park in a city. Am I missing anything?
My husband carries the following: phone, keys, butts, lighter, money clip wallet. And he always asks me to carry his stuff if we go somewhere fancy where I have a bigger purse. And he has a wallet that looks like this.
If you like this amazing money clip, the link below will take you to my friend’s amazing printed leather products.
My Administrative Assistant insists that she only searches for dresses or skirts WITH pockets. I’m not sure where she gets them as I have never seen them at places I frequent. Maybe there is some secret women’s clothing store that sells clothes with pockets?
As far as I’m concerned, this is just another piece of the puzzle of women’s oppression. Not to mention those back problems from carrying those huge purses on our shoulders!
The Feminist Critic 