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Well, Tolkien follows the Norse tradition (shared by the Japanese, I believe) of making the Sun female & the Moon male, whereas most cultures saw them the other way round. Yet, I don't know that Aule's (admittedly strong) association with the materials of the earth makes the earth itself 'male'. Even in the cultures that had 'Smith' gods - like the Greek Hephaestos, & the Roman Vulcan - the earth itself was viewed as female. I still can't shake the idea of not just plants, but also the earth itself being symbolically female - maybe I've read too much mythology, & am influenced by that, but in this case I don't think I'm going against what I've said in the Canonicity thread, as I don't think Tolkien ever made a clear statement on the 'gender' of Arda.
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