Gender Relations In Science Fiction

9 Pages 2126 Words

terplanetary League. Genly observes that the Gethenian’s are an androgynous society where every individual possesses the combined characteristics of both genders and is neither male nor female. The manner in which each character is portrayed by the narrator is conveyed to the reader who, in turn, perceives an individual as being masculine or feminine. When Genly observes or describes Estraven, the prime minister of Karhide, he considers him to be a male and refers to him in a masculine context. “I felt a pang of pure pity for the man whom I had seen in yesterday’s parade sweating and superb under the weight of his panoply and power, a man at the prime of his career” (Le Guin 41). Estraven’s character starts off as a powerful scheming politician and thereafter becomes a fugitive. Due to his position in society, stature and behavior, any reader would aptly characterize him to be a male. Although Genly does make reference to the fact that Estraven possesses some female qualities in his speech and habits, he is repelled by Estraven’s feminine traits and refers to his character in the masculine context throughout the entire novel. In the seventh chapter of this novel, the narration temporarily shifts from Genly Ai to a female investigator. The investigator portrays the sexual cycle on Gethen known as “kemmer”, where the Gethenian’s become male or female sexual beings for four days of the month. “The hormonal secretion is further stimulated until in one partner either a male or female, hormonal dominance is established. The genitals engorge or shrink accordingly, foreplay intensifies, and the partner takes on the other sexual role” (Le Guin 90). It is also observed by the investigator that hormone derivatives are used in a certain region of the planet to establish a preferred sexu...