DanArmak comments on Open Thread: December 2009 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: CannibalSmith 01 December 2009 04:25PM

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Comment author: DanArmak 02 December 2009 10:37:51PM 1 point [-]

Le Guin pretty successfully wrote a whole planet of androgyns using masculine pronouns.

In Left Hand of Darkness, the narrator is an offplanet visitor and the only real male in the setting. He starts his tale by explicitly admitting he can't understand or accept the locals' sexual selves (they become male or female for short periods of time, a bit like estrus). He has to psychologically assign them sexes, but he can't handle a female-only society, so he treats them all as males. There are plot points where he fails to respond appropriately to the explicit feminine side of locals.

This is all very interesting and I liked the novel, but it's the opposite of passing androgyns as normal in writing a tale. Pronouns are the least of your troubles :-)

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 04 December 2009 02:47:44PM 0 points [-]

Later, LeGuin said that she was no longer satisfied with the male pronouns for the Gethenians.

Comment author: Jack 02 December 2009 10:59:19PM 0 points [-]

Very good points. It has been a while since I read it.