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

[HibiscusIsland1]

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?

There was a thread on Style and Beauty where someone was referring to a handbag as "she/her".

I switch off anything where the narrator/presenter speaks in that God awful Vocal Fry voice . Cannot abide it, assaults my ears and gives me instant switch off .

My cars are all male and have names . I thought that was quite normal 😆

Get off instagram altogether. When you drop the addiction you will feel so much better off.

"Serving". Hideous phrase, unless someone is actually serving me my coffee or my drink.

Agree with the OP about its use for things such as handbags. The English language has only one word for 'the'. Very different with some other languages and that's how I get caught out often when speaking them.

I cannot WAIT for this vocal fry garbage to be over!! I can’t bear it!

I haven't seen that , usually it's Baby ( now hold Baby like this, now prepare the bath for Baby ).

Post something snotty and unfollow them. Yes, it is very irritating.

It all sounds very immature and for 'followers'. Some people just have to follow everything a 'famous' person does/says/buys/etc. Infantile. Toddlers copy.

Car depends on the brand! 😁
Mercedes, VW, Ford - he
KIA, Skoda, Alpha Romeo - she

@HibiscusIsland1 I hadn't really thought about it until you said as I don't really follow that sort of thing as its not me.

It’s harmless, but the influencer “she/her” thing always makes me smile because it’s become part of that whole curated‑soft‑life aesthetic. It’s never just a handbag, it’s “she’s giving autumn energy”. It’s never just a bronzer- it’s “she’s my girl”.

It’s like they’re trying to build a tiny friendship circle out of their possessions. Very Instagram‑coded. Not offensive, just a bit whimsical and performative, like talking in a voice that only exists online. Ships have been “she” forever, but calling a £28 candle “her” is definitely a modern invention.

Its Influencer‑speak - the Insta version, which is less tradition and more branding tone and a very particular online dialect.

I feel it sounds infantile, because it’s performative. It’s not natural speech; it’s a curated persona. It’s meant to sound cute, girly, whimsical and a “soft life aesthetic.” But when grown women apply it to handbags, bronzer, or a holiday cottage, it can feel like they’re role‑playing a personality rather than speaking normally. It’s not harmful, just twee but I find it really false. If my friends started talking like that, in anything but a jokey manner, I would reconsider the friendship.

Why do you follow influencers that you find annoying?

Yes!

You have articulated why it annoys me perfectly here.

It just sounds completely unnatural to me coupled with the fact that it is women of my age doing it and it is a recent affectation.

Jesus, just stop it!
Threatened 😆

It's hard enough learning the genders in z French

On Australian Masterchef they refer to the dishes they have cooked as 'she' , they've only started doing it the last couple of series, so it clearly is a trend, and IMO a bonkers one.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 This has been a thing longer than you've been alive. When cars first came out owners started giving them names, largely female. IN 1920's women would femininise their furs ("isn't she just divine). Military and mariners have called ships and boats she since the first ships. Why else do you think they carved female figurehead on the bow. Ancient societies humanised objects and festivals. Heck many modern languages still use male/female for objects: LE table (the table is male) vs. LA maison (a house is female) We've also had gender neutral and singular plural pronoun for hundreds of years. Language literally embraces gender AND gender neutrality.

You are definitely being utterly ridiculous. Heck even professional often name their equipment. Cyclists/Triathletes love to name our bicycles. My 8yo called her first road bike Froglette (female) Mine is Cailleach (female).

https://miniwesst.com/products/titanic-clutch-mw1684?srsltid=AfmBOorubVEF3bb7mN8--f5qyemvNuAyWyX5hKVV-A-6Vgw8lJJgc_tN

very understandable really.

It bloody irritates me too, I haven't studied linguistics, but I read very widely and am fascinated by language evolution and trends. I have noticed "spenny" being used lately and don't know what it means, am guessing expensive and derived from "spent" as in "I spent a lot of money". Am i correct?

Yep, "it's giving...", "she looks...", vocal fry and any dickhead with a clip on microphone holding it in their hand next to their stupid mouth.

All instant swipe away. Why buy an expensive clip on mic then hold it an inch from your mouth you fucking pleb?

It’s true that people have named ships, cars and even fur coats for centuries - but that’s not really what the OP was talking about.

There are three different traditions being mashed together:

Nautical tradition - ships, boats and sometimes cars have historically been referred to as she.
Anthropomorphism - giving objects personalities (“she’s a beauty”, “she’s temperamental”).
Influencer‑speak - the Insta version, which is less tradition and more branding tone:

• “She’s giving autumn vibes.”
• “She’s my new favourite bronzer.”
• “Isn’t she gorgeous?”

This last one is what the OP is reacting to and it is a very particular online dialect.

The Insta version is a different creature entirely. It’s not the old nautical tradition or the French grammar rulebook; it’s a very specific social‑media voice where a bronzer becomes “she’s giving glow” and a handbag becomes “she’s my girl”. It’s less history and more curated‑aesthetic. Nobody’s denying that objects have been personified forever, it’s just that influencers have turned it into a whole performance style. Harmless, but definitely its own modern dialect.

A few pretentious people referring to handbags as she, and a few daft people copying them isn't language moving on. It's a fad.
And as far as I'm aware there's been no semantic shift so that irritated now means threatened. But let's not let that get in the way of a little PA ageism, eh?

My lovely local coffee shop always introduces their Scone of the Week with 'she's a white chocolate and raspberry....'
I hate it, just too twee.

Oh, ffs, we know that. Maritime vessels have always been a feminine pronoun. The OP's talking about the wanky habit of calling things like houses, vases, and hair straighteners 'she'...😂

Quite often with this type of man, their female partner will be 'she' or 'her' too...and rarely named.

A smokey eye ! This winds me up too . What happens with the other eye or lip or leg ?