Off Limits?
 

Do you feel a woman's purse is off limits?

Growing up it was a BIG no no to get into my mother's purse. We were to bring it to her and have her get whatever it was that was needed or wanted.

My Ex used to get into my purse all of the time and he felt it was no big deal. (He also did this to see if there was anything hiding in there out of his paranoia)

My sweetie now won't even peek in there. He almost struggles just bringing it to me. It is a woman's sacred space as far as he is concerned.

Me, If you have my permission to get in my purse, then it is obviously okay to do so. Otherwise, stay out. All that matters to me is that one asks out of respect. There is nothing in there that is sacred or off limits but it is "mine".

How do you feel about it?

I'm editing this to include men's wallets/bags as well. I want the ladies to answer these questions too!

Very very rarely would I go in someones purse. Also though, I would hate to have someone go through my backpack, duffle bag, suitcase, etc.

Its just respect. The one exception is this.... On occaision Ive gone in my mother purse when I couldnt find an inhaler. But I think thats differant.

I will never go through a womens purse.


Unless I've stolen it then I'll take out all the money and stuff.

I NEVER go into a woman's purse. Ever. Not my mom's, not my wife's, not my sister.

I am not interested in being responsible for anything in there, nor am I interested in TMI syndrome.

:lol:
That was funny. It could be a bit too much! ;)

It is like a guys wallet, when my wife goes into my wallet to "clean it out" I get so pissed, people should give each other there little bit of privacy.

A girl I was dating went through my wallet once. I went through the roof. Im a very open person but I draw strict lines in certain places. You stay out of my wallet and I stay out of your purse.

I don't think it should be a big deal. I mean, honestly, unless you're jacking my cash, I don't care if you play with my wallet.

I had the same deal growing up. Purse is off limits, as is my wallet. I can honestly say I've never looked through a girls purse.

Re: Off Limits?
 

That sounds just like me.

My mother used always tell me "Never look in a ladies bag!" and then proceed to give me a bang on the ear if she caught me even peeking.

I won't look in my wife's bag without her permission.

Mr Mephisto

I won't let a girl go through my wallet unless I'm sitting there with her, watching everything she does. Usually they're just interested in the pictures, but you never know...

As for a womens purse, I learned from my mom when I was four that it was off limits. I have heeded that advice to this day and will never go through a womens purse.

A very big yes, even when she says get her something from it I will hand her the whole thing and let her get that item herself

You never know what?! You think they're going to steal from you?
That sounds a bit strange.

Mr Mephisto

My wife could, at any time, go through my wallet, email, letters, records, etc. and I wouldn't give a crap. She'll find no suprises. She feels the same about me and her stuff.

Yet I still feel very unnerved if she asks me to get something out of her purse. Much like the Ladies Lounge, it's not a place for me, so I'd rather not go there.

I used to go in my moms purse all the time, there was gum to be found in there. It seemed fine to me, and it's usually cool unless you find someones tampons.

never without permission, and always in their presence.

No way, no how.

I won't even go through it with their permission. My mom raised me to bring it to her and let her root through it, so I do likewise for the sister/girlfriend/any other girl.

I'll never go through someone's purse...
And don't ask me to carry it for you either because I won't! :mad:

What sort of foolish man would even believe he had a chance of negotiating the two hundred and fifty five zipped compartments and so forth anyhow?

My wallet never has anything in it anyway, so I don't really mind if people go through it.

:lol: Kinda scary to think the woman actually knows every little thread of those 255 zipped compartments.

I wanted to add that I would never look in a mans wallet either.

Uhm... I wouldn't go through something that's not mine. Common sense, anyone?

I have the same aversion to going through a woman's purse. Same with, say, medicine cabinets when you are a guest in someone's house-none of your damn business!

That being said, I have yet to go out with a woman who does not meticulously examine every bloody thing in my wallet at some point in the relationship.

My mom asks me to get stuff for her, then gets mad when I can't find it. The last time I weighed it to try to counter her argument that I should be able to find sutff in there, there were 4 pounds of crap strewn about in the five compartments, three mini-bags, two wallets, and God only knows what else.

Well, I hate carrying purses (let alone the wallet that I do drudge around). I don't really care if someone needs something out of my bag/backpack/wallet and I'm not easily accessible to getting it or busy I'll let them get it. I can't say I'd let any john or jane just go into my stuff, but for the most part I don't have a problem if someone I know needs something I have in there... it's otay for them to get it if they want. I don't feel like I have anything to hide in there... so let 'em go at it.

I have a deep respect for a woman's purse. My wife has trained me to fear the purse monster that lurks in wait of unwary male fingers. :p

Besides, would I want a woman rummaging through my pockets?...

Er, I guess that depends on whether I'm in the pants and who the woman is. :D

Just because there's nothing to hide doesn't mean unconditional access. People have a right to some levels of privacy, regardless of their arrangement (married, etc.).

I would never look in a woman's purse, unless she told me to.

I never touch a womans purse without asking first. IDK I think its b/c of the way I was raised.

Well, my friend once felt comfortable enough digging into my purse to find my retainer case and try and dump glitter in there - I happened to walk in just in time!

Other than that close call, if I give someone permission, I don't mind them going through my purse; they're usually asking for a stick of gum and see it right on top. Other than that, my purse is an extension of my space- don't go where you're not allowed.

You girls carry way too much shit in your damned purses. Even if I wanted to look in a purse, it would be so cluttered with useless shit-- I wouldn't be able to find anything of usage.

Note to women:

Despite what you may think, men do not like carrying your purse for you. What you think is kind of cute, nice etc, we find humiliating and a direct attack to our precious masculinity (ouuuur precious, we needs it).

So please, do your husbands, boyfriends, platonic male friends, brothers and sons a favour and do not burden them with your purses and the attached social stigma at the next all male gathering.

PS. We still don't know what the significance of Italian label handbags are. My theory is their sturdy strap makes them far more difficult for street punks of the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' variety to snatch.

For the longest time, my mom wouldn't let me look inside her purse, insisting I simply bring it to her. In recent years, she's sent me inside those hallowed pockets to try to fetch various items. The time it took me has made me understand why she used to just do it herself. :p

My girlfriend doesn't have a purse. I usually end up carrying her driver's license and debit card in my pockets when we go out.

I don't mind when my girlfriend goes through my wallet. I used to mind horribly when my ex would do it, because she was the jealous, frightened type to whom I had to explain everything, including a membership in the Bathroom Reader's Institute. Things like that make men leave.

My mother didn't allow me to go in her purse. My gf doesn't really care.

I don't have a wallet, so feel free to go through it any time...

As for going into a lady's purse: no way. Not even if she asks me.
Carrying a purse... Hmmm... It's damn to heavy... ;)

My wife can't find anything in her purse and neither can I. I will occasionally look for the checkbook or keys. She doesn't mind. Other that money there is nothing in my wallet of much interest, but if my wife wants to look more power to her.

My wife doesn't have any problems going into my wallet.....
What’s good for goose is good for the gander.

I have no problem with my husband going through my purse and he doesnt care if I go into his wallet, but I always ask first and so does he :)

I don't carry anything of much interest in my purse - only necessities - lipstick, wallet, knife, pen and keys, sometimes pain pills and/or gum - and don't mind sending my SO or anyone really to look for something. I can honestly say that I have never gone into my SO's wallet.

My mom always had me getting stuff from her purse, so i have no aversion to looking through one for something. However, that's just my mom, and I will respect any other woman's right to privacy regarding their baggage.

Out of respect, I would never go through a woman's purse. That's just the way I was raised. I wouldn't want someone going through my wallet either unless I was there. Although there is not much in it, I do keep important notes, receipts, etc. in there that I wouyld prefer not to have rummaged through..

It really depends on the person. I don't care for REALLY close friends to look in my wallet, but I won't look in anyone purse or wallet unless they're like "grab that blue paper out of my purse" or something similar. Otherwise I wouldn't dare look.

If i ever asked for some money from my mum, she'd always tell me to go in her purse. Now, i could easily take way more than i need, but i was always to scared. So, i guess it's fear more than respect that keeps me out of my girlfriend's stuff.

I stay out of purses, but for strictly metaphysical reasons.....personally, I am convinced that the laws of time, space and gravity do not apply inside a woman's purse.

You doubt me? Think about it....watch a woman empty the crap out of her purse when she's desperately got to find something. She'll pull out stuff for a good 5-10 minutes, and at some point around the 2-minute mark you'll find yourself asking the question: "Where did all this shit come from???"

The bigger the handbag, the greater the effect. And those shoulder-bags? You can pull a Volvo out of one of those!

So no, I don't go into purses....you never know what might be in there! A bear trap, maybe?

....Or maybe the bear.

wry1, I commend you. Great minds think alike.

Life has taught me that a woman's "purse" (or to use a better term, her "shoulder-mounted luggage") is just a three-dimensional projection of higher-order dimensions that we men are unable to see. I know this because womens' purses always seem heavier than their size suggests, and are always bigger on the inside than on the outside. As a security mechanism, they seem to contain alternate pockets of reality, depending on the gender of the person fumbling through it - ie: a man is likely to not find whatever it is he was asked to find, and instead will run into other purses, a library of books, an antique cast-iron knitting machine, a family of small vicious animals, or the decaying bones of other unfortunate men foolish enough to journey within.

Life has taught me to stay the hell out, ESPECIALLY when they ask you to get something - its a trap!

I don't like going through women's purses, but if told to, I'll do it. One of my dearest friends has me go through her purse all the time, I think primarily because she is lazy. Not that I blame her, it usually takes me 15 - 20 minutes to try to find what she sent me searching for in the first place.

MB

I could care less if say my child or husband got into my purse to look for gum or something. Big whoop. And if a friend asks for something and it is more convenient for them, I will let them into my purse. Nothing to hide. Gotta have tampons, like almost every woman!
My mother-in-law, however, is so against it. It's wierd.

my wife, doesn't care, as she has just posted. but i guess the same rules would apply to my wallet and the cash inside of it, if she did care.

umm...i dont understand ...how am i supposed to get money if i stay out of ladies purses?? jobs are for sissys, lol

to get seroius, i dont live with my mom and i am ugly so i dont have a girl
i dont have to deal with purses ever

Mephisto, I don't think he's talking about his wife. For that matter, I take it he's not even married. Honestly, I do have the same doubts and fears when a woman nears my wallet. She could take my money and/or credit cards. Just because their good and innocent on the outside doesn't necessarily mean they don't have an ulterior motive. :lol: I sound like a cop now.

Anyway, a word to the wise, unless it's your wife don't let any woman into your wallet without your supervision. Same goes for luggage, duffel bag, briefcase, etc. Not that guys have that many carry-ons to start with. ;)

:lol: :lol: :lol: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ROFL!!!!!!
*Sighs of relief after laughing* Oh, boy I needed that! :lol:

The landfill with straps, personally I try to stay out of my wife's. Except if she makes me look for her checkbook and is too tired to get it herself.

I go into nener-never land only when I need a check out of the check book and she is not home or is sound asleep....

It is damn amasing what a woman can hold in a purse. we are flying out to the Rose bowl parade, and I can't wait to see what she has in there--(besides my camara, binoculars, water, meds. and my flask)


and"--he almost struggels bring it to me"---hell yes he would---those things weight a ton with all that stuff in there...:D

Nope, I don't go near the purse. Even if it's a 'can you please get the *iinsert item* for me.' Just something i never go near, i suppose i see it as a real personal space.

my then g/f and i used to carry around each other's wallet/purse all the time. we felt it was no big deal. we had nothing to hide and we trusted each other. granted we never snooped through it, we just got what was needed and closed it. female friends look through my wallet all the time and it's fine with me. my then g/f used to have a bad habit of leaving shit all over the house when she came over, so rather than wakin up at 5 am lookin for her keys, i would just find them the night before and place them in her purse, next to the bed for her to find the next morning.

I prefer not to go there, even when expressly asked to do so...just don't want to get blamed for anything

In referencing Pulp Fiction, if I'm comfortable enough to give a woman a foot massage, then I'm comfortable in going through her purse when she asks me.

I have no inhibitions with this, but then again, I'll also discuss her menstrual period, if she wants. Guys are weird about the girl stuff - they complain that they'll never figure the other sex out, and yet they never really try. . .

I don't think I would care if my bf were to go through my purse. I don't have anything to hide in there, so I don't think it's a big deal. But just because I feel this way, that doesn't mean everyone else should feel this way.

Don't I need a reason or something? Like to grab keys or something? I mean.. people don't just go through my wallet for no reason.

I would never do it. but i never found that it was taboo'd thing to look into someone's purse because my mother never cared. but once agian, i personally wouldn't do it

I read this a time or two before I felt compelled to add my 2 cents. I have always thought of womens purses as extremely private and somewhat dangerous. I would never look through a womens purse on my own, and I don't like to when asked to. I just bring the purse and the owner can go through it.

Lord knows what might be in there. Sharp things, smelly things, coloring things, secret things, embarassing things, her boyfriends phone number, plans for after I'm dead, nothing I want to see.

Raising three girls, my wife could pull out an amazing assortment of objects needed by small children and later teenage girls, and young women. I assume she passed on her secret knowledge of bags and purses to them as they seem to have their own amazing assortment of stuff.

My billfold is sacred, my space, not for public viewing, and I extend this same status to a purse. Only in the direst need and with witness's will I go into a womans purse.

I don't like my wife or daughter looking into my wallet because I have everything placed in its spot.

I can tell at a glance that I have all my credit cards. A little paranoid about leaving one behind.

So no I don't think they would steal from me. But I make sure that they don't move anything out of its spot...

i stay out of a womans purse

even if asked to get something out of it

It's funny, I've really never thought about it, but the fact is there's no way I'd go into lurkette's purse without being sent for something.

Given that I no longer carry a wallet anymore (money clips rule), I don't feel like I have the same sort of sacred space of my own... Not that I miss it.

On the other hand, it feels pretty weird to have somebody else operating my Palm Pilot....

I consider my wallet to be sacredly private. I get very nervous when other people go through it, even if there is nothing incriminating in it.

I also stay out of my girl's purse because she has so much crap in there I can never find anything.