Wednesday, April 12, 2017

pronouns - What causes the predominantly female gendering of objects?

In English, objects are not generally gendered, as we have neutral pronouns used specifically for that purpose. I've noticed that when gendered pronouns are used for non-gendered objects, though, people generally tend to use female pronouns.



e.g:




  • "New Amsterdam", by Moondog:





"[...]For she's [New York] been loving to me/And I'm the better for
having met her."





  • Airplanes

  • People referring to boat names as female, in general






Why does this phenomenon happen? Is there any specific reason or meaning for these constructions?



Note: English is not my mother tongue, so please, if this is actually a common english mechanism for native speakers, tell me so I can post it at ELL.

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