Humanity has been sailing for hundreds or even thousands of years. Seafarers traveling in the vast seas and oceans full of dangers have certain customs and rituals known among themselves. Undoubtedly, the most common and oldest of these traditions is naming ships with female names. The tradition of giving female names to ships, which continues today, is so common that ships are referred to with the pronoun she used for women in English.
There is no definite answer to questions such as why ships are named after women and why the pronoun she is used. Because the beginning of these traditions is at least as old as maritime history. However, we still have some historical stories and theories. These stories and theories can clear up some question marks on this subject. Let’s take a closer look at why ships are named after women and see the historical journey of this tradition.
Origin of the word ship:
Before moving on to the question of why ships are named after women, let’s look at the question of why the pronoun she, which is used for women in English, is used for ships. The answer to this question lies in the origin of the word ship. The origin of the word ship is the Latin word Navis, which is feminine.
Like many languages widely spoken today, Latin, which forms the basis of many of these languages, has gendered words. Due to this situation, which has no equivalent in our Turkish, not only living things but also things have genders such as male and female. The ship, namely the word Navis, is one of the female ones.
This is also why the pronoun she is used for ships, since Latin is the origin of many languages spoken in the Western world today. So there is a simple language tradition. There are several answers to the question of why ships are named after women, some romantic and some sexist.
The tenderness of women and mothers sought by sailors:
Sailors jump on a ship and struggle to survive, traveling the seas and oceans for months or even years. Due to the harsh conditions of the sea, almost all sailors throughout history have been men. Although this situation has changed today, men still make up the majority of both naval soldiers and civilian sailors.
Everything is expected if you appreciate it when you put so many men on a ship and release them into the sea. For this reason, there is a need for maternal affection, something that will trigger their childhood instincts and make them feel safe. It is the ship that is expected to protect them from dangers that gives this motherly affection. For this reason, ship names are chosen from the names of goddesses or saints.
Another reason why ships are named after women is that the owner wants to honor his lover, spouse or the woman he loves. It is considered a great honor to name his ship, which is his most valuable asset after the woman he loves. Today, many ship, boat and yacht owners continue this tradition.
Ships were named after women because of belief:
Naming ships with female names has a romantic aspect as well as a religious dimension. In many cultures, women are considered sacred because they represent fertility and love. A nameless ship was seen as a sterile woman and was believed to bring bad luck.
After it was believed for many years that even mentioning ships and women together would bring bad luck, a woman’s name was given to a ship for the first time, presumably in the 14th century. After the 18th century, female figures began to be embroidered on ships. Most illiterate sailors would recognize their ships from these female figures.
The belief dimension of giving women’s names to ships can be based on putting a female spirit on the ship. The woman’s representation of fertility, fertility, love and protection would thus become an attribute loaded on the ship. It was believed that the ship, which had a female spirit, would protect the sailors from disasters.
There’s also an ugly side to naming ships with female names:
The romantic and religious aspect of naming ships with female names is acceptable in many ways. However, there is also an ugly and criticized sexist dimension. Unfortunately, this dimension is accepted by many even today and women are openly commodified.
In an article written by the US Retired Rear Admiral Francis D. Foley in 1998; It is told that ships are seen as women because they are loved by men, they can be painted, they are expensive, they have the potential to cause harm, they have body lines and many similar qualities, and therefore they are given a female name.
Since the private, closed world of seafarers is not well known, it is not known exactly how much of a general view this article, written by Rear Admiral Francis D. Foley, covers. However, it is certain that such a senior sailor did not write such a long and detailed article based solely on his own thoughts.
Ships aren’t the only items considered female:
Although attributing gender to objects is not very common in our language and culture, we encounter this situation in Western languages. There are not only female ships among the situations we encounter. It is known that cars, airplanes, motorcycles and other valuables are also named after women and are referred to with the pronoun she.
This situation can be evaluated from two perspectives. Men name the things they value after the women they value, or we can say that men treat the things they own as the women they own. In other words, the romance dimension of the event is separated by a fine line as a hair, from the aspect of possessing the woman as a commodity.
In an article published in the New York Times in February 1917, the pronoun she was also used for the United States. This may be because the country is seen as a woman who needs to be protected under war conditions or as a mother who shows compassion to her citizens. So we always have two basic evaluation criteria.
We answered questions such as why ships are called with female names, why the pronoun she is used, and we talked about the historical journey of this tradition. Traditions exist to make people happy. If half of the society is not satisfied with this tradition, it will not make much sense to continue it.
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