AIBU to not like inanimate objects being called 'she'?

[LylaLee]

I'm not on a campaign or anything, but this is just something that annoys me and I came to ask if IABU to find it jarring/grating.

I know that historically ships get called 'she' and that already annoyed me.

But now I'm seeing it everywhere. On YouTube someone gets a new belt: 'she's going to look great'.

On Instagram, someone's sewn a dress = 'she fits really well.'

Someone gets a wig: 'she looks really natural'.

It's almost as if 'female = an item to serve/be used/passively be of service'.

Oh, you say, they're just being playful and whimsical, anthropomorphising the object.

But they are never, ever, ever called 'he'. I've never heard it.

AIBU?

My car is a she. The dog, however, is a he - even though he is female.

Not heard it for clothes etc, but dd and I do it with so many things, I don't think we have a rule as such, but dd has a major affinity with plants and she is certain of the sexes she ascribes to them. My laptop's he.

They mentioned this on QI apparently in surveys 50% call their robot vaccums male, 17% female and 33% don't give them genders.

Agree doing it to clothes is weird - never come across this so far

Your head will explode when you learn that Latin "virus" is properly a neuter which just happened to get folded into the masculine gender in French. Hence "das Coronavirus" in German. Confused the hell out of people given that it's an unusual declension and most words ending in "us" are masculine.

I’ve never seen this - I don’t follow any fashion bloggers and never go on IG. But surely if the people doing it are generally referring to female clothes, female wigs (ie clothes, wigs, bags etc designed for women / worn by female blogger) then they’re just calling them “she” because they’re women’s things specifically? I mean, I think it’s a bit weird to start assigning genders to inanimate objects when that isn’t a thing in your language, but if you’re going to do it, this makes more sense to me than to call a dress or a woman’s wig “he”.

My 17 dd talks like this. I was watching bake-off this week and one of the younger contestants used she to refer to a pie!

Its definitely a thing with the ‘kids’ atm.

@givemeasunnyday I haven’t got the impression the OP is really ‘worked up’ about this. MN is a place where lots of conversations go on; some lighthearted, some more serious. Threads about language features are quite common.

Vehicles, aeroplanes, nature. I like it. I can’t articulate well why right now. It’s early and I’m tired. Something about female, safety, birth, nurture, stability. Attributes that men, collectively, aren’t, fk the patriarchy etc.

Hopefully someone will come along and do it for me (along with someone to call me a misandrist 😂). I’m not feeling partial to men right now!

@givemeasunnyday "Oh who cares - what a ridiculous thing to get worked up over. MN is like a whole different world, with people getting their knickers in a twist over things people in the real world don't give a passing thought to."

Two things- there is no sign that the OP is "worked up". Have you no concept of the idea of discussion?
And there are lots of examples of things that people have accepted for years suddenly being brought into focus as being a bit shit. That's one of the ways society moves on.

Do you mean it is unhygienic if the nozzle is directly touching the skin? What about when it is sort of dripped down?

I have a dehumidifier called Morten. I think I needed a name for the appliance on the app which controls it so I chose Morten. I did like a-ha as a teen, maybe that's why.

"in Sussex everything is a 'she'
Except the Tom cat and she's a 'he'"

Agree with you OP, I think it’s telling that inanimate objects are default ‘she’, and actual living animals are default ‘he’.

Why are you getting worked up and your knickers in a twist over someone else’s post? Just move on if it doesn’t interest you.

It's absolutely a trend that comes from gay male culture, as a PP said. People like Jonathan Van Ness do it a lot - "she's a lifesaver" for a particular moisturiser etc - and that sort of influence has started to filter down. I do wonder sometimes if it has misogynist undertones but if they are they are very deep rooted and not apparent in the usages I hear. I find it playful and interesting, and it doesn't bother me.

My robot hoover is called J. Edgar.

It annoys me too OP.

Precisely. Passive & there for the use of others. Zero desire of their own.

Ben Shephard, hope you're reading, the Tipping Point machine is an 'it' not a 'she'. Aargh

Our pot plants are all shes.

I don't mind somethings like ships being called she, no idea why a belt would be a she though? Our car is a male though and he has a name, I think our house is female too even though its daft.

The only people I've seen do it online are women talking about their possessions so why wouldn't they be she?
I do the vast majority of DIY at home and all my tools are she.
The mop and vacuum are male though, if I ask the DC in my house to get the lads out they know exactly what I mean.
For some reason I always assume dogs are male and cats are female.

It can be a language thing too. I have worked with a large number of Europeans with french, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese as their native language and they all have used male and female pronouns for objects like they would do it their native languages.
The example that always springs to mind was the printer which was male and often shouted at for not working. It tickled me

And surely everyone knows remote controls are male!