Ships as "she"

Hello!

I'm a young researcher interested in the topic of gender and language. I know that in English the pronoun "she" could be referred to ships and cars. The conceptual analysis of the she-category brought me an unusual idea about the she-reference.

The analysis showed that there are at least six cognitive metaphors in the conceptual system that make us believe ships are feminine:

1. SHIP IS PREGANANT WOMAN
2. SHIP IS ATTRACTIVE WOMAN
3. BAPTIZM OF SHIP IS BAPTIZM OF HUMAN BEING
4. DECOMISSIONING OF SHIP IS DEATH
5. SHIP'S BODY IS HUMAN BODY
6. SHIP'S MOVEMENTS ARE BODY MOVEMENTS

The most prominent one is the first metaphor that can also be traced in cars. Ships, cars and women are "containers" that carry a load in themselves and finaly deliver it. Also ships and mothers secure the life of the load. The load is viewed as something precious.

These results of the analysis are so unusual that I want to put them on the agenda here looking forward to hearing your opinion.

Sincerely yours,
Roman Korolenko

We tossed this one around a bit. See discussion at link below (www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 10 messages 142.html).

SHIPS AS 'SHE' - "Many people wonder why a ship is referred to as a 'she.' The explanation is that it was customary in early days to dedicate a ship to a goddess, under whose protection she sailed. The ship carried the diety's carved image on her bow not as a decoration, as later generations imagined, but as an aid to finding the way." From "How Did it Begin?" by R. Brasch (Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1969).

The above mentioned explanation seems doubtful to me. The practice of using "she" with reference to ships started in 16th century - at the age of Christianity in Europe. People no longer believed in pagan gods or goddesses - they believed in God.
A ship was protected by God's blessing that was given during a ceremony of ship christening (see: Reilly, John C. Christening, Launching and Commissioning. Washington, D.C., 1975.). The ceremony has its roots in the Christian ritual of baptism when a child was given a name and God's blessing. Sailors christened a ship because they thought God would protect it at sea. The tradition of ship christening attributes human qualities to a ship but not feminine. This cultural practice supports the cognitive metaphor: LAUNCH OF SHIP IS BAPTIZM OF PERSON.
As for the figure-head, Britannica says: "During this period (16th century), the fashions in figureheads varied from carvings of saints to national emblems, such as the lion and the unicorn, to a simple scroll and a billethead, and finally to a carved representation of the person for whom the vessel was named or of a female relative".
As you see, figureheads were not limited to a goddess, they varied and protection was given by God's blessing, not by some deity.