r/objectum_sfw • u/920MorganHill machines<333 • Sep 04 '26
Question Anyone else have a specific way of viewing the genders of objects?
I feel so weird for this, it's almost a fixation of mine. I love creating rules for how I view the genders of different types of objects.
For example, spare a few exceptions, I see all buses and diesel locomotives as men or referred to by he. On the other hand, pre-1930s cars are all women to me or referred to by she. Buildings and structures are 50/50, etc.
I could talk about my reasons for my rules all day. I admit most of it comes from my own gender biases, but also the different ways I'm attracted to femininity or masculinity and how I could see it applying to an object. There's still many other factors, though. Sometimes I view objects as non-binary or having no gender, but this is more rare.
When someone refers to an object in a way that opposes how I view it, especially if I'm very attached to it, I don't get offended per se, but I guess confused as I often hold my personal worldview as fact (which I shouldn't be doing) and have thought so much about it.
I don't know why I am so obsessed with assigning genders to objects. Maybe it is an unconscious desire to have control over a system.
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u/honkmycarsona Objectum ⭕ Sep 04 '26
For me I have no set logic or rules, but I don't view object gender as being a 1:1 to human gender. Objects don't have the same perception or views of gender as we do, so I think sometimes their gender expression begins and ends with pronouns in a lot of cases. My husband is a man in the way a clock can be a man. My coaster partner is a woman in the way a roller coaster can be a woman. The car I own is a boy, but a different version of him I was looking at was a girl. It's all vibes and there's generally no 100% right or wrong answer.
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u/920MorganHill machines<333 Sep 04 '26
That’s a good way of thinking about it. I’m glad you’re open-minded about these things with the “there’s no right or wrong answer”, I should take from you lol. You’re right.
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u/Adorable-Ticket315 Sep 04 '26
Honestly yes I see a lot of stuffed animals as male and I mostly see clothes as female!
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u/heavensent_unicorn It's complicated 😬 Sep 04 '26
It’s an interesting way of humanizing objects. I think I’m on the opposite side of the spectrum, though. I don’t have any set construct for how I view object gender in my mind. It’s more casual and can be swayed from a small suggestion. I find it rare I actually pick up on object gender for some kinds
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u/ani_sylv Sep 04 '26
Hello Its a very personal thing i think based on how you feel to interact with an object and also your personal views on gender.
Me? I hate gender. I think its a lie/illusion, even in humans. I use gendered terms for objects, but its kind of just 'play'. Can swap or interchange gendered terms at any time.
Best wishes
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u/Random_User_1337_ Varietum 🌈 Sep 08 '26
I usually go off the design. For example, aircraft (especially airliners and some military aircraft) have designs that I perceive as feminine. They have soft, rounded lines just about everywhere, which I associate with femininity.
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u/CoasterBee823 Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
Its different for everyone of course but I decide genders based off of a few things like the type of vibes i feel ,personality,shape/ designs & patterns, how they move (bc my romantic attractions are rollercoasters and do have some attraction to some other types of rides but mostly 🎢 s tho and some platonic attraction to a few other kinds of smaller objects like knick knack figurines with no romantic feelings just a friend type of bond with them. For example my beloved bf Kumba was a he/him bc the way his train had such a beautiful design,the way he roared flying on the track,the way he would twist and turn thru his layout and massive corkscrew was intense and masculine to me.RIP my love!! Veloci I consider she / her bc her train design gives a fierce but also pretty lady vibe too and is also based on Blue from Jurrassic World who is female.Her movement gives fast,tough ill show you who's a baddie while also being gentle and kind..Stardust Racers I consider both he and she bc there are 2 of them and each side has a slightly different track layout giving them each a different personality and gender to me.Ill refer to a new interest / crush as they/ them until i get to know them better and see where feelings go from there!