Casey’s book about purses wins coverage in Ms. Magazine

Oxford University Press.

A new book by Furman University’s Kathleen B. Casey is gaining attention in the media. Most recently, an excerpt from “The Things She Carried: A Cultural History of the Purse” (Oxford University Press) appears in Ms. Magazine. Casey, director of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and professor of history, says purses represent far more than fashion statements. “Unlike items of apparel placed directly on the body, purses provide an extension of the body, allowing generations of women to carry a miniature version of the home that they could fill with tools to cope with the challenges of a shifting landscape,” she writes.

Casey explores pivotal moments in American history where purses, bags and sacks played roles as “objects with agency” and “helped disparate carriers improve their lives and, in some cases, even emancipate themselves from marginal positions.”