Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Isn't "she" gorgeous? Look at "her".......argh!

258 replies

HibiscusIsland1 · 02/09/2026 14:45

This trend (on Insta etc) for referring to inanimate objects as "she"........it is infuriating - handbags, holiday homes, bronzer......make it stop! I'm a 50 year old women and largely follow women of a similar age. It's infantile and ridiculous. AiBU?

OP posts:
IAmInTheHouseSidney · 03/09/2026 22:28

NotAtMyAge · 03/09/2026 19:27

The grammatical gender for a table you eat at is feminine - la table. A data table is masculine "le tableau de données".

Show quote history

Thanks! It's masculine in mine so she table sounds so odd to me😂

Terfedout · 03/09/2026 22:40

Instagram and influencers are both a complete load of BS, so I'm not sure what you expect OP 😎

SleepingisanArt · 03/09/2026 22:50

Can I please add to the infuriating pile 'how are we styling this?' We aren't! You are a singular entity and we are not all coming to your house to dress you properly. Why buy something if you don't know what to wear it with or how to accessorise it? I am sooooooooo old. Now I'm off to load the dishwasher in a pink slipper....

rb124 · 03/09/2026 23:27

Bowies · 03/09/2026 22:02

Oh hello guys is the worst. I especially hate it at work.

Show quote history

I have to admit to using that if I'm greeting a mixed group.

Stelladid · 03/09/2026 23:30

WiltonGal · 03/09/2026 20:45

Women seem determined to infantilise themselves. I see this in the workplace too, the younger ones speaking in a cutesy way, making a statement sound like an uncertain question, it feels people pleasing/social media driven. These are highly educated and competent females who are dumbing themselves down for no reason, they work in a highly inclusive workplace so they do not need to pander to anyone, it is just something they have picked up as being cute.

This 👆 is the most depressing aspect of all this. Gloria Steinem died today. She would be depressed by this shit.

Stelladid · 03/09/2026 23:34

VeganStar · 03/09/2026 21:55

I’ve got a cousin, 66 years old and she refers to her wigs as “she”and “her” 🙄 smh

That makes some sense though. Not so much for a book or shoes.

blacksax · 03/09/2026 23:48

ShannonMacFarland · 02/09/2026 15:24

Everything started off as a "recent trend". There's really no difference at all. Some people feel threatened when they get a bit older and language moves on without them. It's happened forever and it's not a big deal.

Show quote history

Yeah, but this isn't language that's moved on, it is just bloody cringeworthy and infantile. Not all trends stick. Some trends are shite and this is one of them.

Surgz · 04/09/2026 07:48

Yep utter shite. Nonsense talk to make mundane shallow stuff 'interesting' More cliched talk to go with contrived 'voices' adopted by many. Add the uniform fillers, cats eyes and brows and you got a whole lot of clones hard to see beyond..rant over🤣

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 04/09/2026 10:13

JeanSimmons · 02/09/2026 15:21

Not me thinking that this is about trans 'women'.

This is a huge leap.

5MinuteArgument · 04/09/2026 10:37

Floatlikeafeather2 · 02/09/2026 18:15

Oh I'm a Wiltshire girl but also lived in Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. My parents were from Bristol, Grandparents from Bristol and Somerset. I live in Cumbria now and I've never heard anyone do anything similar. I find dialects fascinating.

Show quote history

Yes, it's a bit of an old Bristolian thing to refer to inanimate objects as a gender. The older members of my family used to do it. But it was always 'him' not 'her'.

JeanSimmons · 04/09/2026 10:41

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 04/09/2026 10:13

This is a huge leap.

Show quote history

No, it isn't.

BillieWiper · 04/09/2026 10:42

Buscobel · 02/09/2026 14:47

It’s from the same mould as ‘a red lip’, ‘a black trouser’. Nonsense!

No it's not. That's just how people in fashion talk about clothes and it's filtered down. Nothing like calling objects 'she'?

Stelladid · 04/09/2026 12:31

rb124 · 03/09/2026 23:27

I have to admit to using that if I'm greeting a mixed group.

Show quote history

Me too. That one doesn’t bother me (referring to a mixed group as guys)!

Bargarran · 04/09/2026 12:55

Stelladid · 04/09/2026 12:31

Me too. That one doesn’t bother me (referring to a mixed group as guys)!

Edited
Show quote history

Agreed. It's harmless. Sometimes I say guys and gals or chaps and chapettes for a laugh..😆

Nettie1964 · 04/09/2026 13:16

The tapping with long claws on any product sends me nuclear. Restocking videos with attendant fake noises. I feel like my head is going to explode when its a "restocking my 11 yr olds makeup station".

Lilifer · 04/09/2026 13:18

Trends come and go, and most of them are irritating as is this one 🫤

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 04/09/2026 17:05

Bowies · 03/09/2026 22:02

Oh hello guys is the worst. I especially hate it at work.

Show quote history

Same here. I am 60 yo. I am not, never have been and never will be "A Guy"

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 04/09/2026 17:11

Oh , I'll add everything being "super"

I'm super busy but I'm super excited for to try this super easy recipe

Oh. Super.

TooOrangey · 04/09/2026 17:19

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 04/09/2026 17:05

Same here. I am 60 yo. I am not, never have been and never will be "A Guy"

Show quote history

I don’t mind ‘guys’ at all. I see it as gender neutral in contemporary usage. I manage 13 people, men and women, if I’m sending a team email, I’ll often start it ‘Hi guys’. My predecessor used to start group emails with just ‘Team’ which I found corporate and cold.

What I really loathe is ‘Ladies’…

SomeOtherUser · 04/09/2026 17:54

Meh, I don't hate that - haven't even noticed. However, I despise the reels where the creator holds a hand over their mouth in a close-up shot and shakes their head in stunned silence over some uninteresting event or observation.

Or even worse: "They said <something no one has ever said about them>", followed by the creator disproving that something. Mindless shite. 🙄

motherofakoalaboy · 04/09/2026 18:13

HibiscusIsland1 · 03/09/2026 20:21

How many more posters are going to helpfully inform us that "she" has been used for ships since time immemorial!?!

Yes, we know that. This is different.......

so a guy naming calling his car she is fine or his boat. but a handbag i love and treasure and spend over half or a year debating if i should treat myself is lesser and can only referred to as it? i am every bit as attached to my handbag as someone might be to their boat or car

KilkennyCats · 04/09/2026 18:25

motherofakoalaboy · 04/09/2026 18:13

so a guy naming calling his car she is fine or his boat. but a handbag i love and treasure and spend over half or a year debating if i should treat myself is lesser and can only referred to as it? i am every bit as attached to my handbag as someone might be to their boat or car

Show quote history

You’re at perfect liberty to call your bag anything you like, but you can’t make it not weird 🤷🏻‍♀️
How long do you spend talking about it that it’s even an issue?

motherofakoalaboy · 04/09/2026 19:10

KilkennyCats · 04/09/2026 18:25

You’re at perfect liberty to call your bag anything you like, but you can’t make it not weird 🤷🏻‍♀️
How long do you spend talking about it that it’s even an issue?

Show quote history

i don’t talk about it other then maybe casually texting my best friend “i bought her. i can’t wait for (insert name) to arrive” i just don’t see how that is more weird then a car or boat.

Floatlikeafeather2 · 04/09/2026 23:18

5MinuteArgument · 04/09/2026 10:37

Yes, it's a bit of an old Bristolian thing to refer to inanimate objects as a gender. The older members of my family used to do it. But it was always 'him' not 'her'.

Show quote history

Yes, interestingly it was usually male in Bristol but "er" and she in Gloucestershire.

Stelladid · 04/09/2026 23:20

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 04/09/2026 17:05

Same here. I am 60 yo. I am not, never have been and never will be "A Guy"

Show quote history

I’m 67. I have no problem with guys, but I dislike being called love, darling or pet. If anyone calls me Hun, I have a mental image of steam coming out of my ears. I loath it! So, your age may not be relevant here.