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Interesting topic. I'm curious whether anyone has any observations about what genderedness of designed objects says about the relationship of (gendered) users/buyers of designed objects with those objects. At first glance one might say that heterosexuality in purchasing is rare. I buy "male" stuff and my wife buys "female" stuff. I need to take a look around and see what gender attributes I can find in the many objects we both have chosen and where I assume we would make the same choice if we were buying strictly for ourselves. I don't know if our Prius would have been Rosemary's first choice car but it would have been high on the list. I think we both had a Mini as second choice. (Do I need sociotestosterone supplements?) Are there categories of objects where the relationship tends to be more heterosexual? (Or should that be heterogenderal?) Boats (presumptively mainly a male-purchased item) are traditionally female in otherwise gender neutral English. I've heard cars called "she" by many males. Of people I've known who name their cars, the males tend to give feminine (or, occasionally, neuter) names and females much more commonly give their cars masculine names. Are their some objects that invite relationships rather than merely acting as badges of gender choice? Gunnar ps: Christena--A question and/or quibble: I'm much more familiar with Deborah Tannen's popular writing than her academic writing but I found your characterization of masculine and feminine modes of conference presentation to be more than a bit loaded. If we assign ultimate futility and uselessness to the extreme of male-gendered presentation (where it is a demonstration of hierarchy without allowing much of anyone access to "content") shouldn't we do the same for the female-gendered version and describe it as inviting, accessible, involving, yet ultimately devoid of putative content--more of a rally than a transfer of subject information? Your description seemed more adversarial than analytical. Is there no communicative yang that would bolster the yin? ---------- Gunnar Swanson Design Office 1910 East 6th Street Greenville, North Carolina 27858 USA [log in to unmask] +1 252 258 7006 http://www.gunnarswanson.com at East Carolina University: [log in to unmask] +1 252 328 2839