jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) (04/17/85)
Why do men's and women's clothes button oppositely? A high-school friend explained it by pointing out how useful it was at drivein movies, since it's usually the man who drives. (This took me a minute to figure out. But then, he had a girlfriend and I didn't.) At that time I was a recently-arrived immigrant from England, and I reminded him that over there a car's driver sits to the right of the passenger, while people do up their clothes the same way as Americans. He promptly asked if we had driveins, and I had to admit that I'd never heard of one! Seriously, a plausible explanation is that women's clothes were originally designed to be buttoned/unbuttoned by maids, and for most people it's easier to do that if the buttons can be held in the right hand. Rugged Men, on the other hand (literally!), were expected to do it themselves. This ought to apply only to rich women who can afford maids, but we all know about the unfortunate tendency of the lower orders to ape their betters. John Purbrick ...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg