12 lines
1.2 KiB
Plaintext
12 lines
1.2 KiB
Plaintext
=> ../index.gmi Home
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# On sex and politics
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In The Left Hand of Darkness Le Guin poses the question of what society would be like, were sex and gender restricted to just a regular cycle of a few days a month, like a mammalian menstrual cycle or the biological phenomenon of being in heat, or rut. Taking place on the hostile, frozen world of Gethen, known to the protagonist Genly Ai as Winter, we experience a breadth of Gethenian experience. Gethenian folklore intersperses chapters of plot, enriching the reader's understanding of an alien but familiar culture. We follow Ai on his years-long mission of making first contact, trying to maneouvre a complex politic and win favour enough to phone home and bring Gethen into the greater galactic pan-human collective.
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The Gethenians are subject to many of the same pressures, both biological and societal, as we humans of Earth are - they jostle for power, feel pain and anger and loss, bear strong familial attachments and are just as wanting to oppress, humiliate and control that which they do not understand. Early in the novel, we see the poltical machinations of Karhide throw Estraven, Ai's ally, into exile.
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First contact practices - Ai is alone
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Political prowess, shifgrethor and femininity
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