Why are ships always female?
David Woodward, Dover, UK
See Also
Titolo: Perché le automobili vengono chiamate con nomi femminili?The Top 8 Manliest Cars to Drive in 2021Why are Countries Referred to as Her or She? Answered - BscholarlyWhy Are Boats Called a “She”?- Ships, like, for example, vases, generally symbolise femininity because they are vessels; like the womb, supposedly a woman's defining characteristic, their function is to contain. This is the flipside of the phallic symbols traditionally embodied in spires, towers, etc.
Helen E. Mundler, Strasbourg France
- Ships are frequently or even usually female, but not always. In particular, in the Second World War the German battleship Bismarck, and another ship built to the same specifications, were regarded as being so magnificent that they were described using male terms.
Jeremy Reynolds, London
- The nouns by which one describes boats in French may be feminine or masculine. One says for instance "une goélette", "un paquebot", "un porte-avions". It seems to me at first glance that as the size of the boat increases, the chances that the noun to designate it is masculine increase too. Oddly enough, the word "paquebot" (liner) is masculine, and yet the name liners receive is generally a feminine or a female name: la France, l'Ile-de-France, etc.
Dominique Boucher, Montréal Québec
- It is because they are similar to women : They are expensive,need a lot of paint - and they always have a lot of men around them !
Uwe Junge, D 25899 Niebuell Germany
- This sexist practice may be dying out especially among people who actually use ships. I hope so. I heard a few years ago a radio interview with the pilot of a hovercraft. The interviewer persistently referred to the vessel as "she". The pilot just as persistently referred to it as "it".
Susan Deal, Sheffield UK
- Sailors were aware of mother nature's power and wanted to please her, so they gave ships female names to appease her.
Cal Melrose, Calgary, Alberta
