There's a phenomenon in Korea known as the man purse. The men don't even try to hide the fact that they are in fact, carrying a purse. It's not disguised as a messenger bag, or a briefcase. They straight up sling brown leather purses over their shoulders and go about their day.
I noticed it in full force this morning while taking Asher to the vet. There were two men walking in front of me, early twenties, most likely on their way to work. The one guy had on a black vest, which by it's cut made me think it MIGHT have belonged to a woman. Oh well, he made it work. Then there was his murse (man-purse). A brown leather purse, one that I myself might have carried, had it not been so shiny and decorative. Slung over his shoulder in the same way that I was carrying mine.
Part of me thinks that it's silly for men to carry PURSES around. I mean, a purse is for a GIRL right?! Then the other part of my brain kicks in and I think, men have shite to carry around too right? And perhaps in this part of Asia it's completely acceptable for men to carry purses. Maybe I'm just toting around this American notion of manliness, when here in fact, being macho means something completely different. The fact that I haven't seen a single macho Korean man the entire time I've been here means nothing...
Perhaps I could bring the manbag trend to America, starting with my husband :)
I noticed it in full force this morning while taking Asher to the vet. There were two men walking in front of me, early twenties, most likely on their way to work. The one guy had on a black vest, which by it's cut made me think it MIGHT have belonged to a woman. Oh well, he made it work. Then there was his murse (man-purse). A brown leather purse, one that I myself might have carried, had it not been so shiny and decorative. Slung over his shoulder in the same way that I was carrying mine.
Part of me thinks that it's silly for men to carry PURSES around. I mean, a purse is for a GIRL right?! Then the other part of my brain kicks in and I think, men have shite to carry around too right? And perhaps in this part of Asia it's completely acceptable for men to carry purses. Maybe I'm just toting around this American notion of manliness, when here in fact, being macho means something completely different. The fact that I haven't seen a single macho Korean man the entire time I've been here means nothing...
Perhaps I could bring the manbag trend to America, starting with my husband :)
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