To some it’s one of the greatest evils of modern times, an attack on freedom of speech, a plot to advance “cultural Marxism”.

To me it’s nothing more than common courtesy. Political correctness comes under relentless attack, yet usually it’s not only harmless but actually removes some harm.

Take non-sexist language. How hard is to swap chairman for chair or chairperson, policeman or fireman for police officer or firefighter, stewardess for flight attendant or manpower for personnel?

These terms are now widespread and more respectful. And with women in the police and fire service and men in air cabins they’re also more accurate.

More beneficially, they may help children realise that certain jobs aren’t closed off to them - counteracting Theresa May’s damaging remarks about “boys’ jobs” and “girls’ jobs”.

Now the Scottish Maritime Museum is opting for gender neutrality. It has decided to stop referring to ships and boats as “she” or “her” and replace them with “it”.

Two signs at the museum have been vandalised with the words “she” and “her” scratched out. So its director David Mann says: “I think that we have to move with the times.”

It’s not the first institution to make this change. The shipping news journal Lloyds List replaced “she” for “it” when describing ships 20 years ago.

Predictably there have been howls of protest from traditionalists, denouncing the museum’s decision as “political correctness gone mad”. And it’s true that vandalism isn’t always the best way to win support for your cause.

But what none of the reaction seems to ask is why a ship or any vehicle is regarded as either male or female in the first place. Isn’t calling a ship “she” just a bit daft?

Perhaps it gave them personality. And when wooden ships or steam liners crossed the seas and oceans they had a certain romance about them and deserved it. Judging by the 1997 film, the Titanic was pretty impressive.

Some suggest it was a way that sailors expressed affection for their vessel, as a kind of maternal protector – akin to phrases like “Mother Earth or “Mother Nature”.

But there’s not much personality and less of a maternal, protective air about modern container vessels full of steel boxes, or the ferries to Northern Ireland where you’re lucky to get a seat at Christmas.

Of course it’s not just ships and boats that get called “she” or “her”. The Pan Am aircraft that exploded above Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people, was called Clipper Maid of the Seas.

You may buy a new car and say you want to “take her out for a spin”. All the Eddie Stobart lorries bear female names.

Then again Herbie, the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle that starred in five Disney films, was male. Nor does it seem to apply to trains.

For 157 years express trains between London and Edinburgh have been called “The Flying Scotsman”, not “The Flying Scotswoman”.

If the train operator wants to follow the example of the Scottish Maritime Museum it should rename it “The Flying Scot”.

As a man I’m not in a position to say whether it’s patronising to share your name with an HGV, or your pronoun with a ship.

And I don’t know how Scottish people feel about The Flying Scotsman. It may trouble Scotsmen with a fear of flying.

Sharing your name with violent, destructive weather systems must be worse. Storms and hurricanes always used to have female Christian names attached until the 1970s, when meteorologists agreed to alternate them with male names. So we suffered Storm Desmond and are escaping Storm Hannah.

Whether it causes any upset or not, however, I think it probably should be changed, because calling an inanimate object “he” or “she” is just plain stupid. It may be a tradition but that’s not necessarily grounds for keeping it. There are plenty of stupid traditions that can or should be dropped.

When it comes to gender equality there may be more important battles to fight. Paying men and women different rates for the same work is illegal but still happens. Further away girls are suffering genital mutilation or forced marriage. Most people around the world living in poverty are women. Calling a ship “it” instead of “she” may matter less.

But it’s always good to consider your choice of words. There’s no harm in minding your language.