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Subject:Re: Help Systems & Gender Differences From:Sue Stewart <suepstewrt -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 9 Apr 1994 20:36:53 EDT
>>What gender is your computer?<<
Sorry, my machines tend to assume gender along with personalities. I have
boy computers, man computers (trust me, there's a difference), female
computers, and neutral computers. I have three pickup trucks: two are guys,
one neuter. And so forth. If you tend to ascribe gender to inanimate
objects in English, you are "animating" them, providing them with personality
(I freely admit to doing this; for one thing, it makes cussing them out feel
far more satisfying.). And since their "personalities" tend to differ, so do
their genders.
Above is proof that it is unwise to write mss. on weekends.
