Checking handbags 'for security'

[Swanhissing]

I have increasingly found that my handbag is being checked for security reasons when i enter places. I dont mind genuine security checks but i am beginning to feel that the 'bag checks" affect women way more than men and have nothing to do with security.

I always ask what is being looked for and its generally food, glass bottles and knives. All of which fit in mens coat pockets (and mine)

Today i went to see a ballet in a small town and had to wait in a queue for 20 minutes whilst 3 blokes looked in all the handbags for knives and sweets according the the guy who looked in my bag. None of the men had bags so just strolled in to the bar. Presumably with coat pockets just free of sweets and knives because they can police themselves?
Is anyone else noticing this trend?

You could just say no. My partner is more than capable of carrying his own wallet and keys.

@feelingsinister one of the reasons he's an ex is that saying no would have resulted in a strop followed by a day long sulk. So I had to become underhand in my dealings. You're quite right though- just saying no is the best solution of course.

Surely they were checking everyone with a bag? I generally don’t carry one so am not troubled.

Several years ago I was regularly attending a high profile sports team's home games, with clients and colleagues, for work.
The cpmpany had a table for four in one of the corporate restaurants at the stadium and invariably our table was made up of me and three men. Every time we went to a game my smallish bag would be 'searched'. By a man. Embarrassing to have it emptied out into tray and the contents inspected in front of colleagues and clients.The men were never patted down or asked to empty their pockets.

I pointed out on several occasions that whatever the security team were looking for in my smallish bag could easily be brought in to the stadium in a man's pockets or hidden beneath his jacket etc. so why were they not also checked. The response from the security team was "them's the rules luv, like it or lump it".

This really doesn't bother me. In fact the lack of thought people give when it comes to going through somewhere where there is security is a pet hate.

What really gets me are people who insist on taking huge bags into places. I mean why? Women with large handbags are a particular pain in the backside. Security is a reality we have to live with and a part of modern life. It never fails to amaze me why so many people going to see X Band need to take a rucksack or bag bigger than your hand luggage at the airport when I'm stood there without any bag at all. The lack of forethought is just annoying. Some will have a reason but the majority are just thoughtless. As much as anything there is no where to put bags at a lot of these events, so from a safety point if view you want as few bags as possible on the premises for the comfort of others and in case of an emergency evacuation.

There is nothing worse than being stood next to someone with a big bag hitting you constantly at a venue.

I do think women are particular offenders here as they are so used to taking a ginormous handbag everywhere, never emptying it and just picking it up whenever they go anywhere.

Back in the day security was perhaps more worried about drugs, recording equipment and damage to sales of beverages at venues. I think there has been an increasing shift to thinking about security in terms of physical safety over recent years. Airport style detectors are a LOT more common. I don't think searching at venues which don't have metal detection really have to catch up on policy.

On the whole I think security is there for a deterrent rather than to stop something from happening at present. The need for security to be there to stop something is that there is a greater need for.

I went to court after coming straight from my hotel so I had my luggage with me, which all had to be searched of course, and I had a massive bottle of vodka in there and they were slightly taken aback. I couldn't take the vodka into court sadly and had to leave it with them.

Also was rather annoyed that they didn't have lockers to store my bags and I had to carry them into court - other courts I've been to have lockers, makes things so much easier.

Someone above mentioned the amount of staff available to search. Thats down to the venue and how much they are willing to pay for security!

As an aside, DW doesn't even own a handbag. I end up carrying everything in my pockets. Which means either I get searched, or neither of us does!

Is this a subject for Ask Me Anything?

You could just say no. My partner is more than capable of carrying his own wallet and keys

Or get him his own bag if he has more to carry. My husband has a very smart leather satchel. He doesn't like carrying keys, money, phone in suit pockets. It rips the lining and spoils the hang and line of the suit. Even in casual clothes he often uses it and always on holiday for guide books, etc.

Interesting thread.

I had something like this recently, 1 day dance festival thing. The queues for women to get in were v long, not for men. The women were getting searched much more thoroughly, feeling round bras, trousers etc and of course going through bags. The men seemed to be waltzing through, just empty pockets, done.

Woman in front of me joked it was same as toilets, women's queue always massive...

So you post this under a feminist chat to get a reaction? It makes no difference what sex you are, be grateful they are doing their jobs properly, instead of turning it into an issue it isn't. No one wants another terrorist attack because security were too scared to search females carrying handbags because of repercussions from feminists on Mumsnet.

Could we proclaim - bravely and stunningly - that we are men, and that we are carrying man-bags, and that any checking of ourselves and our bags is....

Tansphobic!!!!

Why do women get the 'joy' of carrying bags and men often don't.

Is that even true? I was at a family event yesterday, most of the dad's carrying rucksacks with all the family stuff in (which were searched on entry).
I think it's common on a family day out for the man to carry all the stuff, the woman's handbag usually contains her stuff and may the odd small item.

FireflyEden -Ive posted several times that I strongly approve of actual proper security checks.

Saying something affects women more than men doesnt mean i think people should be scared to check in handbags for security. it says i think people should notice women queue longer due to social norms about pockets and handbags so ensure there are more staff, or open the doors earlier when there are events that have lots of women attending, or consider having some female security staff.

I also doubted that an usher with no training peering in womens bags and not looking in pockets or looking at men at all was a good security check. (Yes some men with small bags slipped through). It was about food not terrorism and they should be honest.

And i didnt post for 'a reaction' i posted for a discussion. Which i had.

Most people had only encountered genuine security checks so it seems the thing i noticed wasnt widespread which is great and some security people explained the process of how real security works which i found interesting.

It seems having had the discussion that this venue was basically a bit rubbish.

I am still left feeling that turning out pockets would be a good idea too at more venues.

I also think you are overestimating the potential impact of a tiny thread on mumsnet where i would say nearly every response thought i was totally bonkers! It wasnt a national campaign to prevent handbag checks. It was some musings about improving the security experience for women and potentially improving security by also including pockets.

When desperate for extra weight allowance, I've certainly loaded up my pockets and coat (one occasion, 2 coats.. I did get a tad warm!) to go through airport checkin. You can fit a huge amount in them - especially if it's a waxed jacket with a poacher's pocket!

So yes, it's clearly a snack check, not a bomb check, and not even a good snack check if they're not asking to look in men's pockets. I suspect that much like the swimming hats rule at my local pool (women, kids, and most men wear their hats no problem. Some men don't. This isn't challenged, but I've seen multiple mothers challenged regarding their young son's headgear/lack thereof), this is a case of not wanting to bother the men who might make a fuss if they're caught breaking the rules, but happy to make sure women comply.

I go to Old Trafford, where they've had a lot of security at various points for some time now. There are blokes with 'wands' (the kind they wave over you at airports) on the approaches, though my pal and I (both women in our very early 60s) are rarely asked to be checked by these.

At each turnstile, there are people doing patdowns and usually a woman to patdown any women. We always have to be patted down. At OT, they often ban bags (if you take one, they usually make you check it in at ONE place, right over the other side of the ground - issues before and after the match), so I've developed the habit of wearing a coat with five zipped pockets.

And at every Champions League match I've attended, there have always been smoke bombs or flares let off in the visitors' end. So much for the intensive security, eh?

Im just finding lots of places seem to only check women with bags and only in their bags. Its more like a fetish than a security check.

Nah, sorry OP, I can’t get on board with this!

The Manchester Arena bombing affected me more deeply than any other terrorise attack in recent years, and I think it highlighted some really severe flaws in theatre/arena security. Bags can’t be allowed in unchecked, they just can’t (some venues also have brought in a size limit). And although it seems unfair that women have to bear the brunt of these checks, while being considerably less likely to be suicide bombers, I just don’t know what the alternative could be.

The thing I was at they were looking for drugs not bombs and the queue for women was immense and quite intrusive.

No queue for the men.

I know men used to give drugs to women as we were less likely to be searched, its fair to check both, seems odd this results in a massive queue for women though.

PP talked about snack search and swimming hats.

I ALWAYS get 'randomly' searched at airports as well!

How does it disproportionately affect women more than men OP? Surely it disproportionately affects bag carriers over those without bags?

Don't carry a bag - problem solved.

I was in a theatre in London on Saturday evening. My shoulder bag was checked. I was also carrying a carrier bag from a posh shoe shop. It was one of those heavy duty cardboard style affairs. As it was raining that afternoon the assistant in the shoe shop sealed it shut. The security man waived it through without opening it.

I hate this. I feel that we’re sleepwalking into an authoritarian dystopia, where there is no tolerance for or expectation of trust and privacy. Anyone who objects is made to feel like a transgressive deviant for valuing their own autonomy over the permanently trumpeted “public safety”. First it was airports and increasingly it’s any public venue. Someone carrying a big bag isn’t doing anything wrong, ffs. They don’t have to justify themselves. What’s wrong with us that we’ve started to think like this? A world like this means that bullies on both sides win- the terrorists who want to destroy our freedom, and those happy to exploit that to increase their own power over others. And of course women suffer first and most as a result of this, because we are the easy targets, and because the world is organised to suit the male default. So we have the choice between having our bags searched by men, or missing the concert. Between being patted down by men, or not getting on the plane. I agree, OP. It’s awful. I have no idea what we can do about it though.

How does it disproportionately affect women more than men OP?

It really doesn't, or rather it depends on the event.
A music event, where women may carry handbags but men don't need to carry much - more women checked.
A day out at Legoland with the dad carrying everything for the family in a rucksack - more men checked.

And Formula 1, which I go to every year and everyone pretty much carries a rucksack - everyone checked, and long queues.

At a day out at lego land women are still likely to be carrying their own bag even if the men are carrying the family bag (and plenty of times it's women with the rucksack/huge tote with kagools for everyone, three spare jumpers, wet wipes, spare knickers/Bobby's favourite stuffy and a towel).