Joy to the world, the lord has come!
Let Earth receive her king!
That line from Joy To The World caused me so much confusion when I was younger. See, I thought about words in an odd way. When I heard this line, I didn't understand the concept that you could use gendered pronouns to refer to inanimate or genderless objects like the Earth. When I heard "Let Earth receive her king", I didn't know that the "her" was referring to Earth being the one possessing the king, who was the Lord previously referred to. So, I looked at the sentence before it. I concluded that, since the only other major noun in the sentence was "lord", then the "her" must somehow be connected to the "lord". Okay, so, I thought Jesus was female then. (I should mention I didn't grow up in a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim household.)
But what about "king"? Well, then I concluded that "king" must also have another meaning I didn't know about, equivalent to "the essence of kingliness". So, I thought the line was "Let the Earth receive the kingliness of the lord (who was female)".
Yeah.
Later I understood the whole Earth = She thing. I actually think it's interesting to look at how gendered pronouns are applied to genderless or inanimate things. My grades 6-8 Language Arts teacher once had a discussion which I thought was pretty accurate: In general, objects are female, especially when they're being used for some purpose (a boat, a gun, a car, etc.) And in general, animals are male, unless they're specifically shown as having something to do with birth or children. (I must admit that I fall into the trap of calling female dogs "boy", though that might just be because I grew up with all male dogs.)
That certainly tells you a bit about how we think of things - objects, which we tend to refer to as female, can't talk back. They do whatever we make them do. Animals, on the other hand, have a will of their own.
I'd like to think I assign my dear objects gender randomly. My piano, Astarte, and my keyboard, Claire, I've given female names. My recorder, Lare, is genderqueer. And my favorite notebook has a male name, Alfred.
But what about "king"? Well, then I concluded that "king" must also have another meaning I didn't know about, equivalent to "the essence of kingliness". So, I thought the line was "Let the Earth receive the kingliness of the lord (who was female)".
Yeah.
Later I understood the whole Earth = She thing. I actually think it's interesting to look at how gendered pronouns are applied to genderless or inanimate things. My grades 6-8 Language Arts teacher once had a discussion which I thought was pretty accurate: In general, objects are female, especially when they're being used for some purpose (a boat, a gun, a car, etc.) And in general, animals are male, unless they're specifically shown as having something to do with birth or children. (I must admit that I fall into the trap of calling female dogs "boy", though that might just be because I grew up with all male dogs.)
That certainly tells you a bit about how we think of things - objects, which we tend to refer to as female, can't talk back. They do whatever we make them do. Animals, on the other hand, have a will of their own.
I'd like to think I assign my dear objects gender randomly. My piano, Astarte, and my keyboard, Claire, I've given female names. My recorder, Lare, is genderqueer. And my favorite notebook has a male name, Alfred.
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