Is there a reason why the word 'she' is so often used for non-female concepts?

Question

Example: "She's a great little car"
Sometimes boats, the moon, oceans and rivers are often called she.

Thank you all for your varied answers. It's all very interesting.

Answer 1

to men, SHE is the epitome of life..associated with anything pretty, outstanding, exceptional...such as: look at that car, isn't she a beauty?

Answer 2

In many languages other than English, nouns have not only number but also gender. For example, in french, the word cat is feminine, and the word dog is masculine. So the concept of words with gender can be rooted in the language.

Beyond that, assigning gender to oceans or ships is a romantic conceit you find in poetry, but there are different reasons behind this enculturation.

Seamen who have a relationship with ships and the sea often call the ocean she. I think extending this personification is how cars become/became female to men as in your example "She's a great little car." In fact, if you set up the item (like a car) as a metaphor, and go through traits one by one, you can see how this concept can build. (Everything from color to shape to handling to physical details, etc...)

The moon whose cycles are monthly is often related to females--whose cycles are monthly.

But the origin is more or less impossible to pin down. After all, metaphor and personification begin in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 3

Well I always wondered why some countries were the Fatherland and some the Motherland - yet we say Mother Earth.
As for the sun and moon - the former has traditionally been seen as masculine,the latter feminine - don't ask me why!

http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/F/FrancisofAss/CanticleofBr.htm

Add - my son says the Greek Goddess of the Earth is feminine and she is also the Goddess of fertility so that explains "Mother Earth" - I think!

Answer 4

Really, it used to be for ships. Since they were only male sailors, they would call their ships a she in order to make them feel less lonely, as though the ship replaced their loved one. The ocean was another feminine object because it was moody, attractive, and risky.

Answer 5

Some of the reason is related to other parts of the culture. Remember, it's "mother Russia", but Germany is "the fatherland".

Answer 6

I think it coins back to the old days when men owned everything, including women. It also may be a sign of beauty.

Answer 7

affection. Men have used such a reference when speaking of an object that they respect and/or have a connection too.

Answer 8

Things men have no control over....they are all female-esque to them!

Answer 9

woman are beautiful like nature and possessed like material goods?

Answer 10

Respect, and reverence.