On the Button

I do not often wear women’s clothing. But sometimes I look through my wife’s bag of Goodwill donations in case she is trying to get rid of my participation trophies again. Occasionally I dig out a woman’s shirt or jacket that fits me. How crazy that the buttons and zippers are reversed from those on manly clothes. I stay away from angled sleeves but some of the clothes are mirror images of each other. Years ago, one son gave us both polo style shirts with three buttons at the top. The shirts include a former employer’s logo and buttons on the right for the male shirt and on the left for the female version. I wear both of them now (but not at the same time). The buttons on “her” shirt grab my attention every time. I use my right hand to button the two lower buttons on both shirts but the dexterity is different because I have not performed the operation ten thousand times on the left side buttons. I could understand having right and left handed clothing for certain items. That distinction is used on scissors, notebooks, can openers, and measuring cups. Are buttons reversed so that people like me will not be traumatized by accidentally wearing opposite gender clothes? Is the difference part of the conspiracy to charge more for women’s clothes just like dry cleaners do for laundering female versions of the same clothing? I am too busy to investigate because I am practicing buttoning left handed to see if that works better.