Which Cities Do You See as Masculine Or Feminine?

Razor · #1 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 8:31 PM**

No rhyme or reason, and no specific "real person" references necessarily.

In my mind's eye this is how I see some of the Canadian cities:

Toronto- Masculine
Montreal - Feminine
Vancouver - Feminine
Ottawa - Masculine
Quebec City - Feminine
St. Johns - Gender Neutral (Undecided)
Hamilton - Masculine
London - (undecided)
Winnipeg - Masculine
Edmonton - Masculine
Calgary - Masculine
Regina - Feminine

And some U.S cities for good measure.

NYC - Masculine
Chicago - Alpha Male masculine
San Francisco - Feminine
Boston- Undecided (maybe metro sexual male)
Washington - Masculine
St. Louis - Feminine

Obadno · #2 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 8:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

No rhyme or reason, and no specific "real person" references necessarily.

In my mind's eye this is how I see some of the Canadian cities:

Toronto- Masculine
Montreal - Feminine
Vancouver - Feminine
Ottawa - Masculine
Quebec City - Feminine
St. Johns - Gender Neutral (Undecided)
Hamilton - Masculine
London - (undecided)
Winnipeg - Masculine
Edmonton - Masculine
Calgary - Masculine
Regina - Feminine

And some U.S cities for good measure.

NYC - Masculine
Chicago - Alpha Male masculine
San Francisco - Feminine
Boston- Undecided (maybe metro sexual male)
Washington - Masculine
Saint Louis - Feminine

I honestly think that all cities are feminine, like ships and cars

Double L · #3 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 8:57 PM**

If anybody calls Houston feminine I will find you and haunt you in your sleep.

Centropolis · #4 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor

No rhyme or reason, and no specific "real person" references necessarily.

In my mind's eye this is how I see some of the Canadian cities:

Toronto- Masculine
Montreal - Feminine
Vancouver - Feminine
Ottawa - Masculine
Quebec City - Feminine
St. Johns - Gender Neutral (Undecided)
Hamilton - Masculine
London - (undecided)
Winnipeg - Masculine
Edmonton - Masculine
Calgary - Masculine
Regina - Feminine

And some U.S cities for good measure.

NYC - Masculine
Chicago - Alpha Male masculine
San Francisco - Feminine
Boston- Undecided (maybe metro sexual male)
Washington - Masculine
Saint Louis - Feminine

subterranean · #5 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:13 PM**

Portland is definitely trans

Obadno · #6 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double L

If anybody calls Houston feminine I will find you and haunt you in your sleep.

I dont know i have never heard of settlements in any context being anthropomorphize in a masculine way.

Usually its talking (in positive) about the grandeur, beauty etc When referencing "her" citizens. etc. and when negative its also female pejoratives, "run down" "haggard" "rough" etc.

Ships and other vehicles are always feminine as well.

badrunner · #7 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:21 PM**

Cities that are planned out, on a grid, aligned to the heavens, with buildings lined up in neat rows and columns like soldiers in formation = masculine.

Cities that are unplanned, organic, with roads twisting every which way, with every building and road doing its own thing = feminine.

But in the bigger picture, every city is masculine because cities bring order (masculine) to the chaotic natural environment (feminine).

badrunner · #8 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obadno

Ships and other vehicles are always feminine as well.

This isn't true, airplanes are always referred to with a male pronoun, even when piloted by a female

bilbao58 · #9 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:24 PM**

Cautiously backing out of this crazy thread.

Centropolis · #10 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by badrunner

But in the bigger picture, every city is masculine because cities bring order (masculine) to the chaotic natural environment (feminine).

you could very easily argue the reverse

The North One · #11 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:37 PM**

lol I don't I've seen anybody seriously use the term "metro-sexual" since 2007.

Trying to identify cities as masc or fem is weird.

Nouvellecosse · #12 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 9:47 PM**

I consider Halifax to be gender non-binary, but Moncton and Saint John are definitely masculine.

galleyfox · #13 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obadno

I dont know i have never heard of settlements in any context being anthropomorphize in a masculine way.

Usually its talking (in positive) about the grandeur, beauty etc When referencing "her" citizens. etc. and when negative its also female pejoratives, "run down" "haggard" "rough" etc.

Ships and other vehicles are always feminine as well.

That occurred to me as well. How on Earth do you determine if a city is masculine or feminine or not? Like, I realize the sports teams and Sandburg poems portray Chicago as this super masculine place, but it's also the city that got rich from department store shopping and catalogs, plants flowers and gardens everywhere, and that inspired feminine icons like Oprah, Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz and Tina Fey and Mean Girls.

Almost every major elected office above alderman is currently held by a woman, and the city has been spitting out woman politicians for decades. The city's leading starchitect is a woman. The Picasso sculpture in front of the Daley Center that symbolized the city (before the Bean usurped it) is a sculpture of a woman.

Steely Dan · #14 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:07 PM**

Chicago's King and Queen:

source: http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/

this town is so masculine that even our queen is totally a dude.

galleyfox · #15 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

chicago's king and queen:

source: http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/

this town is so masculine that even our queen is totally a dude.

Skyscrapers are masculine almost by definition. The Crain's building non-withstanding.

On the other hand, when the city asked the world's greatest artist for a sculpture to represent the city, they were shown a woman... from a certain point of view.

JManc · #16 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 11:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

Chicago's King and Queen:

source: http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/

this town is so masculine that even our queen is totally a dude.

Chicago. If Mike Ditka were a city...

Pemgin · #17 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 11:27 PM**

Toronto is definitely feminine. The soyboys and Big Reds pretty much rule the roost there.

badrunner · #18 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 11:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by galleyfox

Skyscrapers are masculine almost by definition. The Crain's building non-withstanding.

On the other hand, when the city asked the world's greatest artist for a sculpture to represent the city, they were shown a woman... from a certain point of view.

A delicate wilting flower trying but failing to offset the oppressive masculine energy emanating from its surroundings.

iheartthed · #19 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 11:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Obadno

I honestly think that all cities are feminine, like ships and cars

Yes, exactly. It would be a little weird to refer to a city with a masculine pronoun in English. New York is always a "she", and so is the United States.

bilbao58 · #20 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 11:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pemgin

Toronto is definitely feminine. The soyboys and Big Reds pretty much rule the roost there.

Sounds like somebody's suffering from... ahem... tower envy.

1920px-Toronto_-_ON_-_Toronto_Harbourfront7 by NOT MY PHOTO

Edited to add: Damn! I swore I'd stay out of this!