Music festival bans men from carrying handbags
A music festival in Manchester has imposed a ban on ‘man-bags’.
The Parklife festival, which is set to take place in June, reportedly listed the bags on its website under a list of ‘banned’ items – alongside selfie sticks, drugs, glass, umbrellas, and fireworks.
Despite an explicit ban on ‘man-bags’, there does not appear to be an equivalent ban on women carrying handbags.
A PinkNews reader said: “While attempting to buy tickets for this years Parklife Festival in Manchester, I was going through their banned items list and amongst the usual, drugs, legal highs and alcohol, I was incredulous to spot man-bags as being banned.
“Now this may seem trivial but to me it shows inequality, especially at a festival where pickpockets can be a major issue.
“Women will be allowed handbags, and they are a safer way for items like cameras, phones and wallets to be carried, so a straight couple would have the option to safely carry their items.
“However a gay couple would both be banned from carrying man-bags and therefore disadvantaged.
“Any person who identifies as trans may also have issues, as it would be down to those enforcing the rules to decide if it is a handbag or a man-bag depending on what if any physical transitioning had begun. ”
“It is just another example of casual discrimination being part of business as usual for some companies in the UK.”
According to the Manchester Evening News, one man wrote: “Someone tell me this is a joke. On this year’s banned list are man bags – not only ridiculous but, unless they ban all handbags, discriminatory too.”
A second man wrote: “The man bag one confuses me. I’ve never been a fan of them but they’re basically a handbag, so why exactly are they banned.”
PinkNews has reached out to Parklife for comment.
