what gender are pens?

[petra]

Just curious, as I have seen several references to pens as "she" or "her," here at FPN.

 

One of the few colleagues who even noticed I use fountain pens good-naturedly remarked that it must be a (censored)-envy based compensatory fetish

 

I've never thought about the gender of pens one way or another... but now that I AM thinking about it, I don't think I could ever imagine a pen as a "she." What gender are pens in other languages?

 

 

 

(Wow. FPN has an automatic censor... probably a good thing, but who knew?!)

Edited October 18, 2008 by petra

[HDoug]

I think assigning gender to pens is "girlie."

 

Doug

[escribo]

Spanish: la pluma? feminine

[Zoe]

Some of my pens are male; others female. But frankly I'm not certain why.

[ANM]

na

Edited October 18, 2008 by ANM

[Fernan]

In French, a fountain pen is « un stylo-plume » -- masculine.

 

But a pen, or a quill, is « une plume » -- feminine.

 

In a fountain pen, « la plume » would be equivalent to the nib that rests on the feeder, « le conduit », that are fitted into « la section » that links the « plume » to « le réservoir » inside « le corps du stylo-plume ». Generally, « un capuchon » (cap), decorated with « une agrafe » (clip) covers « la plume » when it is not in use.

 

I hope this provides the enlightenment that you requested concern the gender of the fountain pen, including its parts.

 

 

Fernan

 

[petra]

:roflmho: :roflmho:

 

Now I totally understand.

[Anne-Sophie]

:roflmho: :roflmho:

 

Now I totally understand.

 

 

Gender is also affected by the name manufacturers give.

 

Le Phileas (a masculine character in Jules Verne)

 

come to think of it I always give masculine gender to my fountain pens, (stylos plumes)

 

So is my nib holder (le porte-plume)

 

The blotting paper (le buvard)

 

The inkwell (l' encrier)

 

but the ink bottle (la bouteille d'encre) and the ink (green is used to show gender) (l'encre verte) is feminine in my mind.

 

 

Everything I use in my hobbies get the French gender in my mind even if I use their English

names.

 

 

 

 

[MYU]

And don't forget, some pens are specifically gender targeted. Sheaffer PFM (Pen For Men). Lamy Lady, Parker Lady. Waterman Ici et La (marketed for women).

[cmonkee]

From the Phallic symbolism alone I would have assumed male, of course I never thought about my pens that way. My bike though, she's a girlie girl.

 

C

[Kurtz]

In spanish, it is definitely feminine: you can say "la pluma" or "la estilográfica".

In italian is just the same: "la penna stilografica"

 

Ballpoint pens (and rollers) are masculine, though.

 

 

 

 

 

[Beardy]

Fountain pen auf Deutsch = Der Füllfederhalter. Masculine.

 

So at least your Pelikans, Lamys, and so on are males.

[FieryPhoenix]

In French, a fountain pen is « un stylo-plume » -- masculine.

 

But a pen, or a quill, is « une plume » -- feminine.

 

In a fountain pen, « la plume » would be equivalent to the nib that rests on the feeder, « le conduit », that are fitted into « la section » that links the « plume » to « le réservoir » inside « le corps du stylo-plume ». Generally, « un capuchon » (cap), decorated with « une agrafe » (clip) covers « la plume » when it is not in use.

 

I hope this provides the enlightenment that you requested concern the gender of the fountain pen, including its parts.

 

 

Fernan

 

So it must be a couple. :roflmho:

[lancekatigbak]

"Pen" comes from the Latin word "pinna" meaning feather. Pinna is Feminine.

[Beechwood]

Parker Sonnets are females.

 

All others are males.

[Wolf]

As pens cannot reproduce themselves, I would say they don't have a gender.

 

In the Dutch language 'it' is masculine and feminine. The word for fountainpen is however 'vulpen', which means literally in English 'filling pen'.

 

The word 'pen' is probably from the latin word 'penna' which is a feminine word. As you are filling a fountain pen with ink and spraying it out, I would conclude that it really is the perfect Androgyne.

 

(edit: correcting a spelling error)

Edited October 18, 2008 by Wolf

[Hardtack]

In French, it's always masculine, whatever brandname, shape or colour. However, that doesn't imply personification. I've never heard anyone call his or her fountain pen Lucien or Matthieu.

 

In Quebec, people may say "une plume-fontaine." In that case, it's feminine.

 

In French, and in all the other Romance languages, grammatical gender has nothing to do with affective or sexual identification.

[HDoug]

Well, if pens have gender, I wonder if they also have sexual orientation? But I guess since I've never seen a Sheaffer PFGM (Pen For Gay Men) it must be a "don't ask, don't tell" situation. Still, I'm looking forward to the Montblanc Anais Nin Writers Edition. Not that I'd buy one myself, but some of my best friends might like one.

 

Doug

[kissing]

In the abstract sense, I think I feel as though some pens are feminine, while others are masculine.

For instance, the elegant Parker Sonnets have a feminine feel, whereas something like a Hero 100 or Lamy Safari would appear masculine.

Am I making sense

 

[lapis]

To each his own language.

To each language it's own genderization: English = 1, French = 2, German = 3, Icelandic = 4 (I think).

I have only 2 Genders: M and N.

 

• Chris (Crest) -> M (masculine)

• Lapi (Lapis Lazuli Duofold) -> M

• Red (Red Duofold) -> M

• Roy (Aurora Optima Mini) -> M

• Chuck (Charleston) -> M

• Monty (146) -> M

 

The others end up as neuters

• M800 -> N

• M215 -> N

• NN -> Very N <-- :ltcapd:

 

Mike