Though I feel for the female traveler described above, there are/were solutions.

1 - Put the purse in the bag BEFORE being confronted. Once the argument starts, the gate agent will win, same at security.

2 - Drop the computer bag and get a briefcase that has more room. I assume this might have been the typical computer bag that has very little room for anything else. I have not used one of those in 10 years.

3 - Get a smaller purse maybe?

These are the rules. They are reasonable, though I think they have little to do with increased security since we will be jamming even more into less bags.