# Do numbers have gender to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153 "2011-03-18T14:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/1 "2011-03-18T14:13:28Z")
Do numbers have a somewhat inherent gender to you? They do to me. It is somewhat tied to them being even/odd with a bit of variation. 0 – Neutral 1 - Neutral 2 - Male 3 - Female 4 - Very Male 5 - Female 6 - Female 7 - Neutral 8 - Male 9 - Neutral 10 - Male From there, most of the rest of the numbers flow naturally. So 44 is definitely male, along with 48. 33 is very feminine, along with 35. All prime numbers are female (with exception of 2 which is male and 7 which can go either way). Once above 100, they start to lose the effect. I think this may have developed when I was a small child and learning arithmetic. Numbers that were particularly “easy” to deal with were male (because boys are way better than girls, duh!). Girls were hard to deal with, difficult. Also, rounded numbers also tend to be more feminine (6, 5, and 3). There are always exceptions. Although 71 is prime, (and therefore mostly female) it is a very sharp anglely number, so it does have its masculine tendencies. I know I am not the only one that is like this…. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/2 "2011-03-18T14:40:30Z")
That’s bullshit. 6 is not only male, it’s damn butch. 6 beats up Chuck Norris. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/3 "2011-03-18T14:43:34Z")
A little googling reveals that the “traditional” view is that odd numbers are male, even numbers are female. (I don’t know what irrational numbers would be.) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/4 "2011-03-18T14:56:22Z")
1 is the loneliest number. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/5 "2011-03-18T15:00:33Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A little googling reveals that the “traditional” view is that odd numbers are male, even numbers are female. (I don’t know what irrational numbers would be.) Call me a traditionalist, then. That’s kind of how I always thought of it, if I thought of it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/6 "2011-03-18T15:01:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t know what irrational numbers would be. I think they are self-explanatory. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/7 "2011-03-18T15:03:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A little googling reveals that the “traditional” view is that odd numbers are male, even numbers are female. (I don’t know what irrational numbers would be.) Which is totally wrong because everyone knows that (overall) even numbers are easier to deal with than odd numbers, and guys are totally easier to deal with than women. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/8 "2011-03-18T15:05:32Z")
4 x 7 OTP 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/9 "2011-03-18T15:20:39Z")
I’ve always had the odd=male and even=female thing. No idea where I picked it up. ---
**Author:** ![wonder\_lust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/10 "2011-03-18T19:25:05Z")
I’m shocked that this is a thing. I’m glad it is though. Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/11 "2011-03-18T19:27:34Z")
No, of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/12 "2011-03-18T19:42:57Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I’ve always had the odd=male and even=female thing. No idea where I picked it up. To the extent that I do gender numbers, which is only really actively thinking about it, this is how it goes. As an extension, prime numbers would be “very male” and highly composite numbers would be “very female”. For example, 5 or 7 seems “very male”, but 8 or 12 seems “very female”. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/13 "2011-03-18T21:34:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That’s bullshit. > > 6 is not only male, it’s damn butch. 6 beats up Chuck Norris. Are you looking at it upside-down? Surely 9 is the heavy. It’s the darkest color (black) and the most solemn musical key (f# minor). 6 is female and blue. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/14 "2011-03-18T21:40:07Z")
2, 4, 5, and 8 are definitely female. 1, 7, and 9 are male. The rest can pretty much go either way. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-numbers-have-gender-to-you/575153/15 "2011-03-18T22:21:55Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Call me a traditionalist, then. That’s kind of how I always thought of it, if I thought of it at all. Same here.