Genly Ai has a single sexual designation in his culture and is confronted by a society that considers this to be a perversion. The concept of a perversion in this sense lies in unacceptable sexual behavior. The ability for the Gethenians to change their sexuality to complement their partner may have been an evolutionary result in order to maintain the continuance of the species. Therefore, having one sexuality is, to the Gethenians, a perversion that may threaten the species. Many types of animals may have become extinct due to the lack of a suitable mate for reproduction. For instance, a lion pride has only one adult male for breeding. If the male were to become unavailable for breeding and no other substitute were available, all reproduction would cease in the pride.
Currently in the United States, sexuality takes many forms that traditionalists consider to be perversions. Homosexuals have been granted a degree of social acceptance, but they cannot reproduce with the assistance of an opposite sex intervention through surrogates. There are individuals that consider themselves to be bisexual, and therefore able to reproduce. Ultimately, the purpose of sexuality is reproduction with recreation coming in a far second. For two (or more!) people to co-exist for an extended period of time, however, it is necessary for there to be affection, acceptance, and a gratifying relationship. Ursula K LeQuin writes in The Dispossessed, “Between a man and a woman there is what they want there to be between them each, and both” (Le Guin, 1975). Sexuality has two components: the mind and the body. While reproduction is physically pleasing in order to encourage reproduction, society depends on the mind of the individual to establish relationships to promote a desire for order and accomplishment.
The question of why off-world visitors would find it appalling to be judged as a human first rather than as a male or female because when a species has only one gender identification assigned to it, the individual creates a self-image and personal standards based on society’s expectations. Here lies the problem with acceptance of non-traditional sexual identification. Perhaps the Gethenians have it right – individuals should be judged as humans and not on their sexual identification.
Works Cited
Le Guin, U. (1975). The dispossessed (1st ed.). New York: Avon.
