computer gender

A language instructor was explaining to her class that French nouns,
unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as
masculine or feminine. Things like "chalk" or "pencil", she described,
would have a gender association. For example: House is feminine - "la"
maison. In English, of course, words are of neutral gender.

Puzzled, one student raised his hand and asked, "What gender is a
computer?"

The teacher wasn't certain which it was, and so divided the class into
two groups and asked them to decide if a computer should be masculine
or feminine.

One group was comprised of the women in the class, and the other of
men. 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 (la) 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 the 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.

The group of women, however, concluded that computers should be
referred to in the masculine (le) 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.