Why are inanimate objects such as cars and boats often refferer to at she/her?
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I believe that it’s because they are used to carry people safely, like a woman carries a baby.
It started with ships. Sailors would refer to their boats as “she” because of how much they loved and cared for their boats. Maintaining a boat is a lot of work, so it was compaired to maintaining a relationship with your spouse.
There was also a trend where sailors would name their ships after important women in their lives as a way to honour them. Sailors could spend weeks or months away from their families and friends, and there was no guarantee that they would return home.
I gotta say this naming tradition is only common in English speaking world. In Chinese, inanimate objects are always referred as “it”.
I don’t think it is universal, but it may be related to how a good chunk of the ships of european countries were consacrated to Virgin Mary or a woman christian saint.
The female anthropomorphization causes people to respect the object more. So, people will follows the rules and take care of things better.
I assume it’s because straight-men have historically been in charge and had all the money/ownership of things.
I’ll give you an example from military perspective. A rifle is the single most importnant thing for an infantry. Without it, you’re nothing. Without you, it’s nothing.
I have always asked my soldiers to name their weapon a woman’s name. I’ve realized that when the weapon is named, they take care of it better. Because most of the time they name it after a very importnant woman, and it personalizes the weapon. They maintain it better, keep track of it better, even shoot it better.
Women have a huge impact on mens lives, so we use that impact.
Because naming it after a dude would be gay. ,🤷
I don’t name my cars but we started naming my wife’s cars after she got her bright yellow compact we called “the Twinkie”. Her next car we named “Jim” because it just seems out of place. When she sold Jim, a hatchback for a new station wagon I joked that it was the Jim-poster but also “long Jim” and after some bonding we decided he would be “Jim2” but we also just say “I’m taking Jim, go move Jim he’s parked behind me, the groceries are in Jim” and it’s such a not car name I giggle every time I say it.
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