A gender computer
A French teacher was explaining to her classthat in French, unlike
English,nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine:"House" is
feminine-la maison." Pencil" is masculine-"le crayon."
A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?" Instead of giving the answer,
the teacher split the class into two groups-male and female - and asked them
to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a
feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for their
recommendation.
The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine
gender ("la computer"), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible
later review; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half
your salary on accessories for it.
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine
(>le computer") because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE
the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little
longer, you could have gotten a better model.
What arguments would you make? And who won?
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