3 ms·
> When we call a country "she" we are making a female description of what a country is: nurturing her citizens. This is an example of gender stereotyping.
by nslater 13y ago
> When we call a country "she" we are making a female description of what a country is: nurturing her citizens.
This is an example of gender stereotyping.
- yeukhon 13y agoBut to how many people we need to use a gender neutral pronoun in this context?
- Crito 13y agoI don't think your explanation for why we refer to countries as though they are females is necessarily complete or correct. In English, countries and ships are both "she". German famously has countries as male ("Fatherland"), but that is by no means the only example. In Russian, and I believe Portuguese, ships are male ("He's a good ship.")
- yeukhon 13y agoInteresting to know. Thanks. Though does this have anything to do with culture? I honestly don't know. I use that as an example to ask myself whether sexism is conditional or not. You can use "it" or "she" to refer to a country (or a land if you enjoy poem hahaha), but I supposed most people will not find that sexist. So sexism is condition and has to do with the story (the context in which the pronoun is used).