“The Left Hand of Darkness” By Ursula K. LeGuin, is an interesting book to say the least. I got this book as a gift from a friend, and wasn’t expecting much from the description on the back. I was expecting a somewhat dry and intellectual read, but now that I’ve gotten into it I’m hooked.
The story is about a Terran (person from Earth) who visits the planet Gethen in hopes of including these people in an alliance--similar to our own United Nations. The most peculiar thing about the Gethenians is: They have no gender. Gethenians aren’t necessarily “its” but are both genders at once, and at a certain time in their lives they enter “kemmer” in which they find a partner and assume either the female or male gender and are able to mate. It’s a whole planet full of bisexual creatures, where no sexism or hate against people of a different sexual orientation is present.
It is a somewhat “dry” book than can be hard to get through in the beginning because oftentimes there are Gethen words incorporated into the story with little to know translation for the Terran reader. However the story is interesting. I can still hardly get over the shock of hearing a man talk about his latest pregnancy (as all Gethenians are considered “he’s” until further notice), or the way they regard the man from Earth as a pervert because he is permanently in kemmer.
The book also points out how important gender is to society. One character says, “What is the first thing you ask when you hear about a newborn baby?” We base our entire framework of thinking off of whether a person is a male or female. Gender, even through equality efforts, still represents a possible career and attitude, what activities the person does, and who will be the person to care for the child.
I’m starting to wonder if this is why gays are having such a hard time being accepted. Are they technically male or female if they like the same sex? The main character in the book, Genly Ai, has a hard time understanding the Gethenians because he can’t stop thinking of people in terms of either male or female. In truth these beings are both.
