The accessory 80% of women in the world carry around. Hangs on the wrist, shoulder, or sits on the laps when in a car. It turns out to be a must-have and women feel ‘naked’ without it.
Women carry some form of a handbag, purse that depends on the occasion. Two in ten women own more than 10 handbags. Eight of the remaining ten have less than three handbags that they alternate, statistics for women in Africa.
FACT: Handbags were men’s accessories in the 1900s as pouches around the waist. And, over the years, handbags signify beauty, power, and status.
9 Things Women Leaders Carry in Their Handbag
First, note, they have designer handbags.
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Cash and Cheque books
Women leaders handle bills in hotels, offices, and their homes. Hard cash is a must-have. Most are business owners, entrepreneurs, and tenderpreneurs, lawyers, and use fat cheque books to pay expenses.
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Passport
Travel is the common denominator of leaders in Kenya. They are out and about to benchmark, attend meetings and conferences. The lack of a passport makes you miss that foreign travel padiem, of lots of money. The trend is most leave their driving licence at home and use official drivers, and this includes no car keys.
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Phones and a tablet
A phone to answer tens of calls a day from fellow leaders, and constituents. A tablet to follow trends on Twitter, Facebook, and local WhatsApp groups, and reading a book on Kindle.
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Pads/Tampons
Every woman knows periods are not always regular. And a friend may need a tampon at the most unexpected of times. On this need, women do help each other out.
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Tissue and wet wipes
These are the most used to clean the face, hands, and other parts of the body. Even to wipe a dirty seat or table before use. The official tree planting exercise in events is followed by a woman leader using a pocket tissue to clean their hands.
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Makeup Kits
Lip gloss, lipstick, eye shadow, lotion, hairbrush, nail cutter, colourless nail polish, and mascara. Women leaders have a lot of opportunities to stand before crowds and looking good, is almost part of the job.
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Perfume
When a woman goes to the toilet to powder her nose, she also puts on a splash of perfume, for that extra kick of freshness.
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Scarf
It hangs pretty around the neck on that chilly evening when you have to attend a cocktail dinner. It also covers up the knees area when one sits and the skirt lifts a little further up the thigh.
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Sunglasses and a fan
For field events, women leaders protect themselves from extreme weather using hats, sunglasses, a fan, umbrella, and sunscreen. Gladys Shollei carries a fan for outdoor, hot events and she also loves her chick sunglasses.
A handbag may look small and insignificant, but it is everything to a woman. It helps keep the cold out, rescue from a cash crunch, make her look and smell nice, and travel guaranteed.
