Meaning of Purses, handbags

When the Glass Ceiling Club meets for lunch during the business day, there is a notable difference in the well-worn, practical nature of the purses and handbags they carry with them, compared to the newer, more expensive, and less useful purses and handbags of the housewives who are leisurely lunching around them (131). This dynamic shows the social isolation faced by working women, as they fundamentally clash with the many women in the city who do not work.