A Mark Stivers cartoon from 2010, caught in the most recent Funny Times:
A pickup in a tool bar: socket meets plug. Most people will take the socket to be female, the plug male — gender assignments on the basis of physical appearance that are reinforced by drawing the plug in masculine blue and physically superior to (above) the socket, plus showing the plug as drinking hard liquor and the socket wine — though this could in principle be a same-sex encounter. Notice that the socket takes the initiative in verbalizing the encounter.
April 24, 2011 at 9:09 am |
The socket not only is looking up, but the head is tilted. It’s actually amazing how much expression is in each
December 24, 2011 at 8:37 am |
And it is like the socket’s mouth is open, speaking, and the plug’s eyes are open WIDE in astonishment and attention.
April 24, 2011 at 9:44 am |
The gender roles are quite explicit in the technical language of electrical plugs and sockets – plumbing fixtures as well. Wikipedia has a whole page on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_of_connectors_and_fasteners