Both languages I grew up with were inflected and had a three-way noun-class system – or, simply put, gendered. When I started learning English, it took me a while to get used to calling all inanimate objects “it,” unless, of course, we were talking about ships, other vehicles or abstract concepts like Fortune or Justice.
Over the decades, it became second nature, and I stopped even thinking about a pen being “she” or a pencil being “he.” That is, until recently, when I noticed a trend on YouTube beauty channels: more and more often, creators refer to products with “she,” as in “She is gorgeous!” or “Just look how glowy she is!” while talking about lipsticks, eyeshadows or blushes. It still sounds unnatural to me, but what do I know?
Saturday Question #277:
What Are Your Perfumes’ Pronouns?
When you think about perfumes, what pronoun do you use?
My Answer
In my native language, the situation was slightly illogical. The word духи (dukhi), a native Slavic word with deep etymology that referred to women’s perfume, existed only in the plural – and therefore had no grammatical gender. That didn’t stop everyone from understanding that the product was strictly feminine.
The masculine counterpart, одеколон (odekolon), meaning cologne, was grammatically masculine and, unsurprisingly, intended for men. Interestingly, that word was a loan from French (eau de Cologne), adapted phonetically.
Years of talking, writing, and thinking about perfume in English have taught me that fragrances are genderless usage-wise and definitely inanimate grammatically. So for me, even my absolute favorites, the ones I adore and never want to be without, will always be “it” (in every sense of the word).
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Yes, I agree! Can’t actually think of any inanimate object to which I would ascribe a gender. Would get too complicated for my poor old brain, easier to think of every item as it. Although, having written that, we do call our Alexa “her” – but then she has a female name and talks with a feminine voice so it would seem rude not to!
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My perfumes are genderless, but I do notice some perfume lovers referring to their fragrances as ‘she.’ But my cars have genders to match their names :-) The hybrid car is Zach (he/him) and my car is Carla (she/her). I didn’t have a car until after I got married so I really appreciate the luxury of owning a car and our cars are treated like family members.
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This is super interesting Undine but I don’t think I use any gender for me fragrances.
Portia xx
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I am the irritating person who occasionally falls into calling a fragrance she or he, but only fragrances I adore. This is nothing to do with the gender marketing of a fragrance but something my brain does on sniffing.
Examples are Dior Homme Intense is definitely a she. More curvy & voluptuous than Mae West. Chanel Pour Monsieur is also a she, as is Dior Eau Sauvage. These two always put me in mind of Annie Lennox circa Sweet Dreams.
Chanel Bois des Iles is a Saville Row suited he. Sisley Eau de Soir is a he, as is Eau de Campagne.
See, no rhyme or reason, just my brain doing what my brain does.
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The only inanimate object in our house given a gender is my husband’s 1963 Harley Davidson motorcycle, which he calls she, and indeed, compared to the huge machines of today, she is a very dainty bike. My perfumes, no, I don’t do that. I wonder if the youtube videos and online live reviews played a part in this?
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I’m with you there, it sounds unnatural to me as well. When I was growing up, animals were referred to as “it,” although I’ve since gotten used to gender pronouns for animals because they are living beings! Some of my coworkers use “she” to refer to their handbags or other items, and I always thought it sounded odd, but I get it.
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Most commonly, it comes to mind. I suppose he or she doesn’t ever cross my mind. I like the androgyny that the word “it” creates.
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Interesting question, Undina. I don’t do it. It seems unusual and odd to assign gender to inanimate objects.
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I have always found the gendering of products weird. No, my lipstick isn’t a she, it is an it. So my perfumes are just things. Beautiful things, but still things.
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I have always found the gendering of products weird. No, my lipstick isn’t a she, it is an it. So my perfumes are just things. Beautiful things, but still things.
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No, and it wouldn’t make any sense to do so. My cars, otoh, have names, and they’re always female.
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I also gender my cars, but nothing else. It would feel quite absurd to do so with perfumes imho.
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