He/she for inanimate nouns

[Krl]

I have stumbled on the text in a textbook which have made me surprised:
"When the authority creates and bears the entrepreneurial risks on transport services SHE creates either by owning a public transport company or by outsourcing the production of services SHE has designed".
It is very bizarre, but is it at least admissible to use SHE instead of it or it is a mistake? Thanks in advance for answering

 

[emsr2d2]

I have stumbled on across the a text in a textbook which that have made me surprised me:

"When the authority creates and bears the entrepreneurial risks on transport services SHE creates either by owning a public transport company or by outsourcing the production of services SHE has designed".

It is very bizarre, but is it at least admissible acceptable to use SHE "she" instead of "it" or is it is a mistake? Thanks in advance for answering.

Please provide the title of the textbook and the name of the author. This is a requirement every time you quote someone else's words. Once we have that information, we will try to help you.

 

[Krl]

The text is taken from “Regulatory framework and legislation in public” book (authors Wilfried Anreiter, Daniel Kampus, Malachy Buckeridge, Graham Lightfoot), p. 20.

 

[emsr2d2]

The text is taken from “Regulatory Framework and Legislation in Public” book (authors by Wilfried Anreiter, Daniel Kampus, Malachy Buckeridge, Graham Lightfoot, p. 20.

Please note the correct way to capitalise a book title, and the other correction above.

I have absolutely no idea why the authors chose to refer to the "authority" as "she" instead of "it".

 

[PeterCW]

A quick search on Google suggests that two of the authors are not native English speakers. It is quite possible that the piece quoted was originally composed in a gendered language and this is simply a translation error.

 

[Skrej]

It's common to refer to some machines and vehicles as 'she' - ships for example are traditionally female. It's not nearly as common to personify machines or vehicles as male, but it's not completely unheard of.

I've never heard of an organization or legal entity referred to with gender, however.