Why would a table be a "she" and a desk a "he", you say? A table is a fixture we associate with graces and pleasures, especially a dining room table. A "desk", on the other hand, is a fixture we associate with work. (For instance, a desktop computer belongs on a desk not a table.) The French understand such things, I think. Hence, it is not the pieces themselves, but the emotions which men have attached to those pieces which explains the choice of gender. If women had had any say in the matter, a table, in particular, a dining room table, would have been a "him" not a "her". I continue you enjoy my dining room table as a "her" but I have learned to remove my dirty dishes at the end of the meal.