Can we call a thing ‘she’?
He/She/It. Simple and self-evident. Or is it? You would think that we use ‘it’ to refer to objects, and you are right. But there are some exceptions.
When I hear the question ‘can we call a thing a she’, the picture of a musician comes to my mind. A violinist or a guitarist, looking at his instrument with admiration. I can almost hear him speak:. ‘She has been with me for twenty years. She feels my every move and she resonates so beautifully!’
(It has to be said: I have never though heard a female musician call her instrument a “he”, regardless of what type of instrument it was.)
Some objects have been referred to as “she” throughout history. It happens that a car mechanic speaks of a nice car as a “she”, but traditionally, these are usually grand objects of dignity and power. Most of these objects were designed to protect you and/or carry you. They are beneficial (bring good things upon them) to people in some way.
SHIPS
The following short prose could be found on the walls of cabins and diners of many seafaring ships
buoys
“A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hides her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.”
Well, I’m sure that many people fighting for gender equality would have a problem with this saucy little anecdote, but it’s a thing of the olden days, so let’s just enjoy it. It definitely helps us understand why ships are traditionally referred to as “she”. This is one explanation, that of the legend.
But there are more prosaic explanations. The Latin word for “ship” — Navis — is feminine. No further comment.
The ancient Greeks and Romans dedicated their ships to goddesses. After the decline of polytheism in Europe, people dedicated the ships to mortal, nonetheless very important women. Seafaring is a dangerous occupation and it felt reassuring to have an iconic, mother-like figure associated with the ship: it gave them a feeling of protection. Christopher Columbus famously crossed the Atlantic in a ship called La Santa Maria, named after the Virgin Mary.
Let’s not forget the fact that traditionally, most boat-owners were men and so were captains and sailors. They were confined on the ships for months on end without even seeing a feminine human being. So, making up for the lack, boat owners often named their ships after important women in their lives — wives, sweethearts, mothers.
“Like a woman, a ship is unpredictable.”
COUNTRIES
I have to emphasize again that presently, English is getting freer of the gender distinction. Historically, however, the situation is different. When a country was personified in a speech, it was often called a ‘she’ and this enhanced the rhetorical effect.
“If America with all her treasure of gold comes into the war against Germany, she will be of incalculable help to her allies, regardless of anything she may do as a fighting force. If she stays out, as now, with broken relations with Germany, she will be an equally potent support to us. America’s wealth and financial aid mean everything to the Allies.”
/The New York Times, February 1917 Hartley Withers (editor of The Economist)/
National personifications of countries as females have been extremely popular in the context of wartime propaganda and patriotism: Brittania, Germania, Mother Russia, Marianne (for France), and Italia Turrita, for example.
However, when the propaganda needed it so, countries were also creatively personified as a male. Two famous examples are John Bull (U.K:) and Uncle Sam (U.S. government).
These kinds of symbols are now anachronistic. Nonetheless, some forces of nature are still widely thought of as having a certain female quality. You could think of the hurricane Katrina or Irma but the ultimate personification, which might forever stand the test of time is Mother Earth or Mother Nature, life-giving power of all beings on our planet.
A bejegyzés szerzője
Szabó Kisanna vagyok. Az angol egészen kicsi korom óta az életem szerves része, csakúgy, mint az irodalom, az írás: irodalmár-nyelvtanár családból származom, s örököltem mind az érdeklődést, mind a motivációt. Éltem és tanultam az USA-ban és Nagy-Britanniában, számos nemzetközi művészeti és oktatási projektben dolgoztam - angolul.
A nyelvismeret átadásával az emberek kezébe hasznos eszközt adok, ezért is szeretek tanítani. A mondás nagyon találó, hogy „ahány nyelvet beszélsz, annyi ember vagy”. Hiszek az élményszerű nyelvoktatásban - ennek is köszönhetem kiváló eredményeimet és azt, hogy az óráim kitűnő hangulatban telnek. A leveltybooks-szal mindenki számára elérhető, izgalmas, érdekes, ugyanakkor tartós eredményeket hozó módját kínáljuk az angoltanulásnak – a nyelvtanulást, olvasásélményt egyesítve.