She/Her/It

[MarekSusicky]

calling all the ships "it."

How dare you! It's not it! It's she!

I mean... She's she?

 

[beast_regards]

Trying to be helpful for once, and tried to pull out the wikipedia page and ...

USS Enterprise (an actual ship, not the lady from the Azur Lane) is referred to in the professional article as "she".

So, whether we like it or not, it is apparently correct in English.

In many other languages, it is as far I know similar. The word "ship" is, in fact, feminine, in many other languages as well, with some exceptions.

 

[Kenjona]

To quote a plaque that used to be in many a wardroom:
“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.”

FYI: The gender of the Latin word for ‘ship’ (navis) is feminine.
Men who went to sea named their ships after their mothers, Goddesses and lovers. They put their forms on the prow. This is/was tradition, so even though a ship may be named after a Male. It was still a she. But there are always exceptions, the Bismarck and a sister ship was considered a he due to their magnificent lines.

However, nowadays even the Lloyds register has not used "she" in reference to ships since about 2000-2005. Other Publications have followed suit. Though the various Naval militaries themselves have not.

Personally, you do you, and just be consistent for the culture you are writing about/for.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

I've been working on my pirate story a bit, and I just realized that I've spent the entire thing (which admittedly isn't much) calling all the ships "it." "He turned the ship's wheel and turned it to starboard." I really don't want to have to go back and replace every instance of "it" with "she" or "her." Is this the kind of thing you, as a reader, would care about, or even notice?

Well she is used for ships but at least in german the word itself uses it (das schiff), I guess you can think of it as if ships were animals that when you know them use not it.

 

[Nolff]

I've been working on my pirate story a bit, and I just realized that I've spent the entire thing (which admittedly isn't much) calling all the ships "it." "He turned the ship's wheel and turned it to starboard." I really don't want to have to go back and replace every instance of "it" with "she" or "her." Is this the kind of thing you, as a reader, would care about, or even notice?

Well, call it 'she' when spoken by true sailors.

 

[Splort]

Russians will call a ship, "He"/"Him".

 

[CharlesEBrown]

"At least she's got the right name: Enterprise. Treat her right, she'll bring you home every time." Admiral Leonard McCoy to Lt. Data.
Even in the 23rd Century, ships are considered female...

Though AFAICT, it is the crew that gives the ship its name and character - outsiders would refer to a ship as gender neutral, but those crewing them? She's a lady to be coaxed, loved, and, occasionally yelled at because she can be temperamental at times.

Though a language history site I just stumbled on says this:

Referring to ships as she or her has been a tradition for centuries. Why Are Ships Referred to as She? It is generally accepted that ships are referred to as ‘she’ or ‘her’ due to language evolution from the Latin word for ship ‘Navis’ being feminine.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

My first thoughts would be:
- The narrator refers to it as "it".
-The sailors/pirates refer to it in speech as "She".
-Anyone else can take their pick, dependant on their personalities.

So you'd only have to look at dialogue when editing, maybe?

But then, if the narrator of the story is themself a sailor/pirate... hmmm.

If I'm reading a story, would I really care about it? I don't know.

 

[Gray_Mann]

Isn't the media teaching is that the gender is the construct, and it doesn't exist?

Only dumbass Leftists/American Democrats agree with that bullshit.

 

[JayMark]

You're overthinking. Use what you want and be consistent as narrator. If you're using a character's perspective use what they would use. One thing I'm good at is not overthinking. Because I'm dumb.

 

[2wordsperminute]

No, it is not correct. He has a gender, it's literally on his profile.
View attachment 34192

Wasn't expecting more moderator John lore in this thread.

 

[Clo]

In many other languages, it is as far I know similar. The word "ship" is, in fact, feminine, in many other languages as well, with some exceptions.

The gender of objects in French changes based on the word you chose to describe it.

A car is male, an automobile is female.
A fork is female, but a utensil is male.

For boats, I can't actually think of any word we use for them that makes them female:
Vessel (vaisseau) is male,
Boat (bateau) is male,
Ship (navire) is male.

And most authors would therefore refer to boat as male, unless it's given a Feminine name and then addressed as such.

Pretty interesting to realise this, given that French is one of the most gendered language out there, and its convention on sea vessel goes against the sailor's traditions.

 

[2wordsperminute]

A car is male, an automobile is female.
A fork is female, but a utensil is male.

Technically, the terms are masculine and feminine, the language is not saying that a chair is female, only feminine. And it has very little to do with the perception of the thing most of the time (though it may have an influence on the perception of it afterwards). Otherwise, pirate in Latin (pirata) would be masculine instead of feminine.

 

[JayMark]

Somewhere, beyond the she ? She's there watching for me.

 

[beast_regards]

For boats, I can't actually think of any word we use for them that makes them female:
Vessel (vaisseau) is male,
Boat (bateau) is male,
Ship (navire) is male.

And most authors would therefore refer to boat as male, unless it's given a Feminine name and then addressed as such.

I admit I didn't know it was the case in French.

The german or dutch has gender neutral / neuter forms for the word ship, it polish has either masculine or feminine form depending on the word, czech has feminine and neuter forms depending on the word etc.

 

[Nevafrost]

I thought of he, she, it when I saw the thread title. You got me

 

[aToTeT]

I've been working on my pirate story a bit, and I just realized that I've spent the entire thing (which admittedly isn't much) calling all the ships "it." "He turned the ship's wheel and turned it to starboard." I really don't want to have to go back and replace every instance of "it" with "she" or "her." Is this the kind of thing you, as a reader, would care about, or even notice?

Find and replace would be your friend… if it wasn’t so common!

Honestly, if I can read There Is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns without too much trouble and have a good time: you can get away with anything if it’s interesting enough.

Pronouns either matter or they don’t and it’s what matters to you that matters to anyone else.

Turn the ship around Jeeves.

Hold your seahorses, I'm turning her around!

It’s just a ship, mate.

She’s not a ship, she’s me wife!

Russians will call a ship, "He"/"Him".

Sink him, he’s a spoilSplort.

Only dumbass Leftists/American Democrats agree with that bullshit.

… and linguists.

Don’t forget them folks or they’ll wag their tongues at you.