what gender are pens?

[Mr Ink]

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

Are you absolutely sure they cannot reproduce? At the rate my collection is growing, I could have sworn they did.

[xmattxyzx]

Almost all of mine are hermaphroditic.

[Philip1209]

Spanish: la pluma? feminine

 

What about "El Boligrafo"- Masculine?

(Are there subtle differences between the words that I'm not aware of?)

[gyasko]

In Japanese, there is no gender and it would sound bizarre to use a pronoun like 彼 or 彼女 in reference to a pen. Japanese pens are non-gendered.

 

[Kurtz]

Spanish: la pluma? feminine

 

What about "El Boligrafo"- Masculine?

(Are there subtle differences between the words that I'm not aware of?)

 

 

"Bolígrafo" is equivalent to ballpoint pen. Fountain pen is "pluma estilográfica" or, simply, "estilográfica".

 

 

[Paddler]

The gender of pens? Darn it! Where is Goodguy when we need him?

 

Paddler

[Kurtz]

Let's face it. Some pens are undeniably male:

 

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6744/leverboxvs8.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

[arz]

For me, probably because I think in Spanish, fps (plumas estilograficas) are feminine. But that is also because I am a woman and my collection tends to focus on more feminine styles of pens. In addition, we named our female cat pluma, (not after the pens, but because she is as light as a feather!), so that also contributes to the female associations.

 

However, I have a pretty large collection of Sheaffer tuckaways and although I understand that they were largely used by women, I find them masculine.

[tawanda]

I collect vintage Parker 45s, mainly, and all mine are old men - some are benign cuddly grandpas, some are crotchety old duffers, but I love 'em all!

[jd50ae]

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

 

(edit: correcting a spelling error)

 

I don't know about that......they have to be coming from somewhere and I don't remember buying all these pens. And I find them in the strangest places.

 

[JJBlanche]

I brought up the phallic symbolism in a thread that had something to do with "pen honeymoons" and "pen love." Some argued Freud would have said "a pen is just a pen."

[Skooky]

I've always been curious about grammatical gender. Having studied a few languages with it, I'm familiar with it in the grammatical sense, but I've always wondered if it actually feels like there is 'physical gender' psychologically ascribed to things.

 

Okay, onwards. Besides the various qualities pretty much inherent to all pens (resemblance to phallus, liquid coming out the tip, &c.), I'm pretty sure designers do have masculinity and femininity (not as 'sexual' as the inherent qualities) in mind when designing pens (and everything else for that matter). Thicker (and longer), masculine, slender (and shorter), feminine. Crisp, 90 degree angles, masculine, rounded off, smooth, feminine. Form and function, masculine, expression, feminine. Of course, those aren't 'set in stone' rules. Colour and colour combination also factor in.

[gigipurple]

Spanish: la pluma? feminine

 

 

or "la lapicera", or "la birome", yes, definitively feminine, Gigi

[escribo]

Spanish: la pluma? feminine

 

 

or "la lapicera", or "la birome", yes, definitively feminine, Gigi

 

I can see recognize the etymology of la lapicera -- it appears to mean something like "like a pencil" (lapis).

But la birome is new to me. What exactly does it mean?

Thanks

-jon

Edited October 18, 2008 by escribo

[rogerb]

I'm with Freud & the Japanese on this..... a pen is an inanimate object...it's just a pen.

[lancekatigbak]

I think many people aren't seeing the humor in this, and are taking it too seriously.

[jkenton]

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?

 

It appears that we need to locate and enlist someone who can perform the skill (long since lost to the ether) of sexing a pen.

 

I've seen people sexing chickens and other birds...

 

I wonder what a "pen-sexer" would look for to tell them apart....

 

:embarrassed_smile:

[penpimperLV]

Either or. Depends if the pen looks more masculine or feminine. In general, I think of pens as masculine.

[xmattxyzx]

Someone needs to change his or her title to "pen-sexer" asap.

[ericthered2004]

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?!)

 

 

Interesting question. It's occurred to me that Parker 51s are coded masculine: a business pen, very IBM and grey flannel suit. Whereas Sheaffer are feminine, starting in a jewelry store, more expressive nibs, hence the need for a Sheaffer For Men, goshdarnit, even though it has a nib that is (girlishly) inlaid.

 

cheers

eric.

Edited October 19, 2008 by ericthered2004