Feminine attire and language

[Nena]

My first language is Spanish, which is a "gendered" language (meaning that nouns have a specific gender). I find it fascinating that a majority of feminine attire and accessories have a masculine gender in Spanish. It makes me wonder if they originally were intended to be used by men. By the way, I am GG and relatively new to the board. I screwed up the original sign in because I did not think that I would be allowed to post on this board if I identified myself as such. Sorry about that. Anyway, below is a list of examples I have compiled. Oh! This is general Latin American Spanish. There are regional differences. I have put an (m) for masculine and (f) for feminine gender after the word in Spanish.

1. Panties = Calzones (m)
2. Bra = Brasier (m) or sostén (m)
3. Girdle = Faja (f)
4. Bustier = Bustier (m)
5. Corset = Corsé (m)
6. Garter = Liga (f)
7. Stockings = Medias (f)
8. Slip = Fustán (m) or Combinación (f)
9. Shoes = Zapatos (m)
10. High Heels = Tacones (m)
11. Skirt = Falda (f)
12. Blouse = Blusa (f)
13. Dress = Vestido (m)
14. Earrings = Aretes (m)
15. Bracelet = Brazelete (m) or Pulsera (f)
16. Necklace = Collar (m)
17. Perfume = Perfume (m)
18. Scarf (hair or neck) = Pañuelo (m)
19. Barrett = Pasador (m)
20. Ribbon = Cinta (f)
21. Makeup = Maquillaje (m)
22. Eye shadow = Sombra de ojo (f)
23. Eye liner = Ojo de lÃ*nea (m)
24. Mascara = Mascara (f)
25. Blush = Blush (m) or Polvo de rouge (m)
26. Powder = Polvo (m)
27. Lipstick = Pintalabios (f) or Lápiz de labios (m)
28. Lace = Encaje (m)
29. Satin = Satén (m)
30. Silk = Seda (f)

For those of you that feel guilty about your CDing, read the list again. It seems like most it is for you anyway :)

Nena GG

[Nena]

Oh! Please do not kick me out. I like it here and I am learning a lot.

Nena GG

[Persephone]

below is a list of examples I have compiled. Oh! This is general Latin American Spanish. There are regional differences. I have put an (m) for masculine and (f) for feminine gender after the word in Spanish. Nena GG

Very interesting! Thanks Nena! And welcome to the group!

[Phyliss]

I wonder if the same type of similarities exist in other "Romance" languages, French, Italian, to name two.

I believe we have a few members who are fluent in these.

[Sigrid Cutie]

Hola Nena,

mi idioma materno tambien es el espaniol y si havia notado el genero solo que nunca le havia puesto mucha atencion al echo :)

[alexmusic]

I wonder if the same type of similarities exist in other "Romance" languages, French, Italian, to name two.

I believe we have a few members who are fluent in these.

yes it would be similar since they are all Latin based, I am also a native Spanish speaker and speak Portuguese as well and genderization exist in all of them.

BTW for Scarf you can also say "la bufanda"

[Sigrid Cutie]

i'm also fluent in french and there yes they do have gender as well but is not always the same gender for all this words :)

[deja true]

Oh! Please do not kick me out. I like it here and I am learning a lot.

Nena GG

Hunny, you ain't goin' nowhere!

The female born are honored guests here. The rest of us are inmates...LOL!

That you're learning a lot about us is a good thing...a very good thing.

And what you can teach us will be a very good thing, too.

You have our

respect & love,

deja

:<3:

[Nena]

I am speaking mostly from a Central American context, specifically Nicaragua and to some extent, Puerto Rico, where I am from and still live now. However, in PR at least half of these things simply would be said in English. For example, if you went into the lingerie section of a department store and asked her to direct you to the calzones, if she were under 30, she would probably suggest you go to an Italian restaurant. Panties in Puerto Rico are simply panties, but they are "los panties", so they still are masculine. :)

Nena GG

[Kate Simmons]

Nothing really "new" under the Sun Hon. The only "real" way to tell the difference between a male and female chromosome is by pulling down it's "genes" (or so they tell me).:heehee:

[Karren H]

Funny I always thought a Calazone was an itallian food and not a pair of spanish panties? I always wondered what that chewey stuff was inside! Lol.

[Nena]

Funny I always thought a Calazone was an itallian food and not a pair of spanish panties? I always wondered what that chewey stuff was inside! Lol.

This is soooo funny. I am still laughing. If think about what a calzone looks like, I think it is easy to see that it kind of has the shape of panties. The real question is which came first: the food calzone or the panties (calzones). Based upon your making the connection between the chewy stuff inside, Karen, I am presuming that you are leaning toward the panties (calzones) coming first. Yikes! I am getting myself into more trouble, now with the word coming. :)

Nena GG

[Karren H]

I like the Vega-zone myself but the lingerie-zone would be pretty interesting!! lol Lucky for me I have a hard enough time butchering one language and speak enough spanish to order a quarter pounder with cheese at the McDonalds in Madrid!! :)

[JoAnne Wheeler]

That is all very interesting, but what exactly is the purpose ?


JoAnne Wheeler

[Nena]

Actually there is no real purpose except to point out the quirkiness in how gender distinctions are made, which I am sure everyone has already discussed ad infinitum here. So, I guess I just added one more quirky thing to the growing mountain of stuff. :)

Nena GG

[Persephone]

If think about what a calzone looks like, I think it is easy to see that it kind of has the shape of panties. The real question is which came first: the food calzone or the panties (calzones). Based upon your making the connection between the chewy stuff inside, Karen, I am presuming that you are leaning toward the panties (calzones) coming first. Yikes! I am getting myself into more trouble, now with the word coming. :)

Nena GG

I'm not going near the last two lines that you wrote, but an article on Wikipedia says that the word Calzone in Italian refers to "stocking" or "trouser" or "drooping sack" or "hanging fold."

A footnote mentions that "When it refers to the garment, the word normally occurs in the plural calzoni, like "trousers" does in English."