B. U. G. S.

One episode of Seinfeld showed him wearing a fur coat and carrying a purse. But, as the characters kept saying, it wasn’t a PURSE, it was a European wallet.

At the end of the show, someone snatched Jerry’s purse. Someone told the cop, “That guy snathced this guy’s purse.”

Seinfeld shouted shouted, “It’s not a purse, it’s EUROPEAN!”

Then the show ended when Seinfeld shouted, “OK, it’s a PURSE!” At that point the show ended with a freeze-fram of Sinefeld with his hands in the air, with his fur coat on.

Before AIDS hit the scene, we bigotted rednecks kept saying that the reason womens’ fashions were so ridiculous was that all the clothes designers for women were queer. This vicious accusation was simply quoted by the mainstream media to show how ridiculous the idea was that womens’ clothes designers were queer.

All they had to do was to put us bigots’ words in quotes: “Fromer KKK leader X says womens’ cloths designers are quote queer unquote.”

Which proved that they weren’t.

Then AIDS hit. Barbara Walters did a special bemoaning how AIDS had wiped out the designers of womens’ clothes, who were Great Artists?

“Why is it,” Barbara Walters continued, “That homosexuality gives a man such a perfect appreciation of colors and designs …” And so forth.

Knowing networking as I do, I would guess offhand that if you were NOT a homosexual you weren’t admitted into the mutual admiration club that is womens’ fashions.

Back to Seinfeld and his “European wallet.”

In the early 1970s there was an all-out effort to get men to carry purses, wear “bell-bottomed trousers” that were straight out of womens’ clothing store, and “Italian heels,” which were high-heeled boots that were also straight out of a womens’ store.

It wasn’t queer, it was European.

When I was on Capitol Hill, one of the male stars on M*A*S*H* showed up to testify. The girls rushed out to attend the hearing.

Liberal or conservative, they were sickened. “He had on high heels and he was carrying a PURSE!”

I don’t know if anyone else remembers the guys walking around in bell-bottoms with purses and high heels and blow-dryed hair.

It was the Latest Thing.

It was the sign of Progress.

And no one remembers it but me.