In The Left Hand of Darkness, gender is an intriguingly abstracted concept – the Gethenians are “ambisexual,” with neither male nor female gender identity. From the human character’s perspective, Genly Ai, this creates a distinct disconnect between him and the Gethenans, as his worldview and perspective is heavily predicated upon the socialized differences between man and woman he has imposed on himself by Earth society. In Genly’s journey from a ‘man’ to a ‘person,’ I see that quest as him not necessarily losing anything important or essential to his identity, but rather freeing himself from the social constraints that come from such strict gender binaries: “Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally; everybody has the same risk to run or choice to make. Therefore nobody here is quite so free as a free male anywhere else” (Le Guin, Chapter 7). We are socialized so much to frame our identity on the arbitrary differences between genders in order to consolidate power between men and women; the historically male-dominated world has a vested interest in ascribing weaker characteristics to a whole half of the population to keep them from usurping that power.
The labeling of Genly as a ‘pervert’ comes as a means of criticizing the inherently sex-obsessed nature of masculinity; by defining oneself and one’s personality so strictly around one’s genitals and sexual activity, the Gethenians believe that Genly is perverted compared to them: “He, after all, had no standards of manliness, of virility, to complicate his pride” (Le Guin, Chapter 16). In essence, because he is so focused on maleness and femaleness and what that might mean for one’s identity, this is what makes him alienated and an outsider from the rest of society. By labeling him a pervert, however, the Gethenians consolidate power against him, as they deny him the legitimacy of his own identity as well.
Works Cited
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. Ace Books, 1969.
