View Full Version : Anthropomorphizing Cameras - Do you find it odd?
M. Valdemar
12-02-2007, 16:15
Sometimes I'll read an ad for a camera or lens where the seller will describe it as a "she".
"I bought her a few years ago and she has only had a couple of rolls through her".
Others refer to all their equipment as female.
99% of the time the camera is referred to as a female. One rarely hears of anyone referring to a camera as a "he".
Women will rarely anthropomorphize their inanimate possessions.
Do you refer to your cameras as a human gender? Why?
How about cars, guns or other hobbyist possessions?
I find it a bit odd and disquieting when others do it. Does anyone find it strange or is this generally accepted?
Odd... it is VERY odd. Almost as odd as the dumb@ss in the office next to mine who walks in and loudly exclaimes"Good Morning, Girls" as he boots his two computers.
cosmonot
12-02-2007, 16:24
Yes. It's odd.
I don't name my cars, guns, cameras or anything else. If I had a boat I might name it +after+ someone, and that name would probably be gender specific.
But then, I remember that I'm just weird. I don't title photos either.
landsknechte
12-02-2007, 16:47
I've named all of my cameras Eric.
I don't do it, but I don't find referring to cameras as 'she' odd, either. It's not really a term of affection, but almost of acknowledgment of a satisfying relationship. You rarely here someone refer to a camera, boat, or car, or whatever, as 'she' if it has failed them somehow. Usually, it's "IT'S a piece of cr@p!"
.
crawdiddy
12-02-2007, 17:08
Good point, RayPA.
I wonder how our users who speak romance languages fluently view this phenomenon, since most nouns have gender?
mfunnell
12-02-2007, 17:11
I've named all of my cameras Eric.With the back of my Zorki 4 would I have Eric the Half-a-Camera?
...Mike
Women will rarely anthropomorphize their inanimate possessions.
You need to ask around a bit and find out how many women name their cars, for example.
And for what it's worth, gender is not restricted to humans. Dogs, cats, basically all mammals, birds, fish, lizards, even some plants have genders. It's not anthropomorphizing to simply assign gender.
Assigning emotions such as grief, excitement, anticipation, fear, etc. are typically considered human emotions, and are characteristic of "anthropomorphizing." (we'll ignore the fact that animals of all kinds display fear, anger, excitement, etc. :) )
Humans have a tendency to assign gender to inanimate objects all the time, from ships to planes to cars to cameras. I think it's just a display of affection or importance - the object in question is important to one's survival, enjoyment, or livelihood, and mechanical things can be unpredictable as living things, therefore they can be gendered, too :) Most things we hold as significant to our lives are living beings with genders, so it seems natural to assign a gender to ALL things we hold dear.
Morca007
12-02-2007, 19:25
I don't do it, but being around sailors so much, I don't find it odd.
Don't assign names or gender to my cameras, but while I was still young and...er... adventurous, I called my cars "Rocinante"...It'll make sense to some...
Don
David Goldfarb
12-02-2007, 19:43
I think it makes more sense to assign camera brands to people. C'mon, you probably know someone who is something of a Leica, and someone else who is more of a Minolta.
mfunnell
12-02-2007, 19:46
I think it makes more sense to assign camera brands to people. C'mon, you probably know someone who is something of a Leica, and someone else who is more of a Minolta.And rather a few Holgas as well.
...Mike
And rather a few Holgas as well.
...Mike
I prefer Diana
I prefer Diana
now that was a fun camera!!
.
SolaresLarrave
12-02-2007, 20:21
In Spanish (my native language), and also in French, German and Portuguese, objects have a grammatical gender. Heck, in German, a child is replaced by the equivalent of the English pronoun it. So, attributing a gender to a camera isn't all that weird or unnatural. Even in English, objects have a gender and it's neutral. Usually, you see these things come up as "direct object pronouns" (I saw it vs. I saw her, for instance).
I must admit, however, being surprised at hearing or reading English sentences in which ships were referred to as "she", but then, in Spanish, they're él.
Now, what men and women do... is strange. A female friend of mine used to ride a motorcycle called "Fabrizio", while my own wife refers to our car as "Beba." To me, either Leica or Nikon, cameras tend to have a grammatical feminine gender (la cámara), and therefore I see them as... friendly objects only! :)
steverett
12-02-2007, 20:48
When i first saw the title of this thread, I assumed it was referring to something akin to my avatar. :D
As for naming/genderifying cameras, my current camera has a gal's name, but my previous one had a guy's name. In fact, most of the names I've given my posessions have been masculine (every computer I've owned, my ipod, etc.)
Spider67
12-03-2007, 01:34
As I am from Austria my cameras are feminine...once had a slip of tong when I said "hear" to a Moskva the repairman handed it/her back to me smiling mischieviously "Here's your bride".......So that ones the bride and my 35 RC is sometimes "the geisha"
manfromh
12-03-2007, 02:12
My cameras dont have a gender, because estonian language doesnt have gender specific words. Though I sometimes call my cameras "ta" or "tema", which is only used for living beings. But when speaking (writing) english, then I sometimes refer to them as she.
In Slavic languages, nouns ending with "a" are usually of female gender, nouns ending with consonant are of male gender.
That's why Leica, Holga, Diana, Corina, Mamiya are females,
Zeiss Ikon, Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Pentax, Rolleiflex, Flexaret, Kiev, Lubitel are males.
LOMO (ending with "o") has no gender and gender of Petri and Fuji is uncertain :)
But I've already heard few feminized male camera names:
Flexareta, Linhofka
I think it makes more sense to assign camera brands to people. C'mon, you probably know someone who is something of a Leica, and someone else who is more of a Minolta.
Not to mention the Vivatars on the freeway....
Bob
Don't anthropomorphize your cameras, they hate that!
As someone posted, all things have gender in Spanish. The are male and female articles. Male ones are: el (singular), los (plural) and female: la (sing.), las (plural). So "cameras" are female: "la cámara, las cámaras". Cars are male: "el coche". We don't use the "it" to talk about inanimate things. Guitars are female, violins are male but violas are female... You get the picture.
I don't consider my cameras to have female characteristics, thanks god. One girl in life at a given time is more than enough ;)
thomasw_
12-03-2007, 07:05
Don't anthropomorphize your cameras, they hate that!
rofl, thanks for that:)
Don't anthropomorphize your cameras, they hate that!
:D ..:D ..:D
etrigan63
12-03-2007, 07:53
Don't anthropomorphize your cameras, they hate that!
That was my tagline for many, many years...
sepiareverb
12-03-2007, 10:24
I've named only a very few cameras. When I was shooting stock my Nikon F4S's all got names ('Red', 'Goldie' and 'Blackie'), and an identifying dollop of paint on the hotshoe cover so I could tell them apart. You gotta know what body it is that needs work ya know.
now that was a fun camera!!
Maybe you should review this long-ago thread. :)
(Don't take it too seriously!) :)
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9439
Maybe you should review this long-ago thread. :)
(Don't take it too seriously!) :)
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9439
I don't get it. :confused: Maybe I scrolled through too quickly. I was referring to Pablito's reference to THIS (http://www.lomography.com/diana/), which really was a fun camera! :)
.
I don't assign genders to my cameras but I wouldn't like to swear that I really believe them to be inanimate. And I do talk to them. Not conversations, obviously, more a sort of `you're coming with me, sunshine' type of thing. So mine are alive but genderless...is that better or worse? It sounds Basque if nothing else.
Film dino
12-07-2007, 05:43
if your camera's a she do you you tell her "someday your prints will come?"
Pitxu, if English is your fourth language (am I adding that up right?) I think you win hands down on the sweet speaking front!
I encourage gender among my cameras, and provide a nice setting, hoping they will have offspring.
Now there's a great idea! One might want to be careful what you leave in the camera bag together though. Might end up with a Holgon, Zorkon, or?
I suppose my Mamiya Press might be a 'he' as it is big and masculine. My GSN and Nikons might mate. Could I have a Mamashika or a Mamikon? And what size film would it take?
Guess I'll keem them apart. :cool:
if your camera's a she do you you tell her "someday your prints will come?"
Gag! Groan! That's AWFUL! :)
dazedgonebye
12-07-2007, 08:18
Ok guys...it's time we drew the line between loving our gear and "loving" our gear.
On the other hand, I spend more pleasurable time with my hands on my camera than I do with my hands on my wife. (TMI, I know.)
dazedgonebye
12-07-2007, 08:26
Why don't you put an ad in the "want to swap" section? "Swap wife for low mileage leica":)
I've done it...I keep getting offers of Holgas. :bang:
projectbluebird
01-01-2008, 13:14
I think I agree with lazarza, my cameras are alive.
They may not have a specific gender, but they most certainly have personalities.
My Nikon S2 for example, is habitually "cranky."
Most of the swearing I save for myself. I malfunction more often than my cameras.
On a related note, my car is most certainly a "he" and he also has a name.
I name my cameras, it gives them an identity and makes them feel loved. So far I have Oliver and Vladimir. However, I need to name my others and the new one who's on the way, birth expected early next week when the post stalk delivers him.
BigSteveG
01-01-2008, 15:41
I call my MP Jesus.
Anthropomorphizing Cameras - Do you find it odd?
It gives me the willies......
Update: I have Oliver, Vladimir, Bogart and Cornelius.
Oliver is an Olympus SP35, Vladimir is the Petri 7sII, Bogart is the Ricoh GX-100 and Cornelius is the Contax G1.
I have just discovered however that I now need to name the lenses too...
And rather a few Holgas as well.
...Mike
for me...it depends on the night! I may start as a LEICA, have a heavy dinner and become a CANON or NIKON, and a few drinks to turn into a HOLGA! the older I get though, the more I feel like a speedgraphic, he he
I will occasionally refer to my cameras/lenses as if they were living creatures, but more like (genderless) livestock or pets than people, so I really zoomorphize them. As projectbluebird noted, mechanical cameras do tend to have different personalities.
I don't go so far as to give them special names, though. That would be weird.
BTW, I know plenty of women who anthropomorphize/zoomorphize their cars, cameras, etc.
Sometimes I'll read an ad for a camera or lens where the seller will describe it as a "she".
"I bought her a few years ago and she has only had a couple of rolls through her".
Others refer to all their equipment as female.
99% of the time the camera is referred to as a female. One rarely hears of anyone referring to a camera as a "he".
Women will rarely anthropomorphize their inanimate possessions.
Do you refer to your cameras as a human gender? Why?
How about cars, guns or other hobbyist possessions?
I find it a bit odd and disquieting when others do it. Does anyone find it strange or is this generally accepted?
drewbarb
02-14-2008, 21:57
I call my MP Jesus.
Ah. So it was your MP that built my hotrod.
minoltist7
02-17-2008, 11:01
Cameras can have gender, yes.
Bessa is SHE, but FED is surely HE (Felix Dzerzhinskiy )
PaulRicciardi
02-17-2008, 12:47
I think that gendering or anthropomorphizing a camera is an English thing only. French is my second language (though I've been speaking it my whole life so it may as well be a first), Spanish my third, and I speak enough Italian to know gender concepts. As others have mentioned, items in these languages have gender assigned to them automatically and when you refer to them in pronoun form you use the appropriate gender pronoun.
For example, in French, if I was talking about a fork I would say la fourchette. If I wanted to refer to the fork by pronoun form I could say elle. In english this would be "her" but in french it is "it" however the gender does help to let other people know which "it" you are referring to.
In any event, I don't anthropomorphize my cameras but I don't find it odd. Earlier someone had mentioned that males are probably more prone to it than females and I would agree on that account however I do know a few females who have named their car/computer/whatever.
Don't assign names or gender to my cameras, but while I was still young and...er... adventurous, I called my cars "Rocinante"...It'll make sense to some...
Don
That is the name I gave my bicycle... At least it has a saddle:)
Thinking the other way - anthropomorphizing offspring of all things, do you reckon there are any "Leica"s, "Nikon"s or err... "Diana"/"Holga"s on birth certificates?
"Canon" you could go a long way with a name like that.
I know a photographer whose daughter's middle name is "Leica."
Thinking the other way - anthropomorphizing offspring of all things, do you reckon there are any "Leica"s, "Nikon"s or err... "Diana"/"Holga"s on birth certificates?
"Canon" you could go a long way with a name like that.
bmattock
02-19-2008, 04:03
Ah. So it was your MP that built my hotrod.
Some of us actually get that reference. "Ministry," as I recall.
bmattock
02-19-2008, 04:04
I know a photographer whose daughter's middle name is "Leica."
My cat's name is Zone V.
bmattock
02-19-2008, 04:05
In Soviet Russia, camera anthropomorphizes you.
Perhaps it's because after awhile, men recognize that the female gender represents elegance, beauty and functionality. Oh, and get the job done, too! :p
Mary
bmattock
02-20-2008, 04:15
Perhaps it's because after awhile, men recognize that the female gender represents elegance, beauty and functionality. Oh, and get the job done, too! :p
Mary
Or because female names remind us of stubbornness, recalcitrance, logic-defying refusal to operate, and frequent breakdowns. I'm just sayin'.
I refer to my cars as 'she'... I don't do it to my cameras but instead I give them names, which people generally seem to view as much weirder behaviour. My M3 is Mr. White, my MP is Rudolf, my 35 Summicron-ASPH is called Snoopy... etc.
Sound Mind
03-23-2008, 10:06
I name... most things I own and love. My truck is named Leroy. One of my old sweatshirts was named Stacy. I even named my old school bag from high school Monty.
I don't think it's so weird to name or assign a gender to things you've grown attached, too. I've got 270,000 miles on my truck (Ford) and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have taken as good care of it had I not named it and grown so attached.
But I suppose it was odd of me to assign a nationality to my computer when I named it Marty Flannagan.
infrequent
03-23-2008, 14:54
my hexar rf is called vesper. yeah..the bond girl.
I got a 50 Summilux-ASPH two weeks ago and I haven't figured out a name for her/him yet. This has been buggin' me a bit.
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