Not a Man-Bag

While I need a bookbag for school, I'm unfond of backpacks. Also, briefcases don't have the loadbearing capacity I need. So, to suit my needs and tastes, I purchased (at a 50% discount!) an Old Navy messenger bag of a style, alas, now discontinued. I was pleased with my purchase, both for its aesthetic and its utility.

A Rugged and Manly Satchel

And yet, for all its excellences, my satchel has been made the object of scorn by none other than my sister-in-law, Lia. Indeed, she refers to it as a "man-bag", also known as a "man-purse" or "murse". More importantly, the "man-bag" is a running gag from the sitcom Friends, in which affably moronic Joey carries a purse for several episodes, having been duped into it by that wily minx Rachel.


Naturally, I resent having my satchel equated with Joey's man-bag. Such ridicule is offensive. Moreover, it ignores the greatest precedent for my satchel, Indiana Jones's shoulder bag:

Behold the intrepid adventurer, undaunted by masked assassins! See how his enemies flinch before him, knowing his just wrath will prove their undoing! And note, finally, the shoulder bag, containing everything a swashbuckling archaeologist needs to face danger and prevail!

It ain't a man-bag--it's an essential part of every heroic academic's panoply!