Ever notice how insects, rodents and other pests are always "him"?

[2008]

"Get him, before he goes under the couch!"

"Oh sick, he was on my plate!"

"I thought I killed him. This one must be his brother."

"He just made the biggest mistake of his life."

"Keep an eye on him while I get a napkin."


The only exception I can think of is Wilbur's savior, Charlotte. And she could read and write. Notice how Templeton, the male rat, couldn't read. He just brought her scraps of paper with letters on it, garbage he found alongside the spoiled food he ate.

Templeton was the greedy, filthy outcast, but Charlotte was the literate, artistic Messiah who gave her all to save an innocent, doomed friend, then died a hero's death.

And who are the heroes in Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure? Charlotte's three daughters.

Definitely some gender bias going on here.

[Deja Q]

1. Okay, let's call them "her" and get socked with a misogyny lawsuit...

"Get her, before she goes under the couch!"

"Oh sick, she was on my plate!"

"I thought I killed her. This one must be her sister."

"She just made the biggest mistake of her life."

"Keep an eye on her while I get a napkin."

There, do you feel better?

:hide:

[2008]

2. No, I already tried that! It feels...

...mean.

[Pierre.Suave]

3. I will tell you why...

It is because girls are so cute, and nice, and etc... that there is no way that a bug could be referred to as a "she"...

or something like that.

[2008]

4. Yes, they are so cute, and ... wait a minute --

-- where do you get "nice"?

[Pierre.Suave]

7. my GF

she is very nice, and sweet, and huggable, and adorable, and gentle, and...I love that girl...

[2008]

8. She's hovering, right? In viewing range of the monitor? Pretending to dust?

I'M KIDDING!

I think that's great, seriously.

[Pierre.Suave]

21. no, not at all

I just really like her.

[dpbrown]

5. The problem is with English - other languages, like Chinese, have a neutral pronoun

And it would be just as easy to say "it" when talking about animals, anyway.

[NewJeffCT]

6. especially since most of the insect world is female

you don't see too many male ants & bees now...

[Mugu]

9. Or mosquitoes.

[Karenina]

10. Hmmm... Thanx for this!

It is afterall DIE Spinne. A friend has one the size of a 50 cent piece in the high ceiling above her stove. I'll think about her (die Spinne) in another way now. Maybe re-read "Charlotte's Web." It's been a half-century and all...

[crim son]

11. I don't consider it a bonafide gender bias.

Traditionally, with few exceptions, everything was a "he". Any random person or object would be tagged with a masculine pronoun. I imagine calling icky things "he" is just a habit nobody's gotten over.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. I say "IT"

Except for the spider that lives in the garage. I call her a HER. She's actually fascinating. As long as I don't see her anywhere near me, she's fine.
Duckie

[DS1]

13. I'm sure there's plenty of divorcees who them 'her'

[RushIsRot]

14. Actually, I refer to most spiders I encounter as "she" because

the ones I find generally are females. I do so with admiration, however.

[XemaSab]

15. Not in all cases...

During the Giant Wasp Invasion of 2007, that bitch was TOAST. :o

[DarkTirade]

16. I usually stick with 'it' until I know for sure.

Like my crawfish... I found it about to die of dehydration in the middle of a parking lot, so I took it home and named it a fairly unisex name: Roadkill.

Then I did some research and found out that 'it' was indeed a 'she'.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

17. That is because

He was made by "God" First. (I hate myself for saying that.)

[Jamastiene]

18. Would you claim misogyny if it was always "her?"

Something tells me you wouldn't. Poor, poor you. Must suck being so downtrodden and oppressed. :eyes:

[2008]

23. You apparently think that I was serious about this gender-bias complaint...

...and that I think the DU Lounge is a good place to discuss relevant social issues.

I thought my reference to Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure would be evidence enough that the whole post was purposely jackass.

[BlueIris]

19. Damn, men are so oppressed. CRAZY FEMINISTS!!!

Trying to pervert reality! Shame! Shame on them!!

[Skittles]

20. that seems normal to me

:7

[Danger Mouse]

22. Sounds about right to me.

:P