General

Is the Computer Male or Female?

By Gita Talgeri

An English teacher was explaining to his students the concept of gender association in the English Language.

He noted how hurricanes were given female names, and how ships and planes were always referred to as "she".

One of the students curiously, raised her hand and asked "So, what gender is a computer?".

The teacher, unsure of an explanation, divided the class into 2 groups - male and female.

Each group was to decide whether computers were masculine or feminine, and to give four reasons for their recommendations.

The group of women concluded that computers should be masculine because :

• To get their attention, we have to turn them on
• They have SO much data, but are still clueless
• They're meant to help solve your problems, but half the time they're the cause of them
• As soon as you commit to one, you realise that had you waited a little more, you could have had a better model

The men, on the other hand, decided that computers were most definitely feminine because:

• No one, but their creator, understands their internal logic
• The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to others
• Even your smallest mistakes are stored for later retrieval
• As soon as you commit to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheque on accessories for it

Howzaat?!