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An English teacher was explaining to his students the concept of gender
association in the English language. He stated how hurricanes at one
time were given feminine names and how ships and planes were usually
referred to as "she." One of the students raised their hand and asked,
"What 'gender' is a computer?" The teacher wasn't certain which it was,
so he divided the class into two groups, males in one, females in the
other, and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine or
feminine. Both groups were asked to give four reasons for their
recommendation.
The men decided that computers should definitely be referred to in the
feminine gender 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 your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later
retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it.
On the other hand, the group of women concluded that computers should be
referred to in the masculine gender because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
3. They are supposed to help you solve your problems, but half the time
they ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that, if you had waited a
little longer, you could have had a better model.
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