The world in which Genly Ai comes from (Earth) is very different from the place of Gethenians. Being from different origins, much of their beliefs differ, Genly has trouble deciphering genders in the Gethenian community, because of their way of becoming female or male which doesn’t happen till “kemmering”. This is shown when Genly talks and describes the people around him that he knows/meets, “He laughed shrilly like an angry woman pretending to be amused.” (Le Guin 31). Here Genly describes Argaven (the King) as womanly but calls Argaven as a he. Genly is very used to seeing people as a certain gender from the beginning, from Gethenian perspective they find Genly to be different and see him as an “alien” or a “pervert” and vice versa. Genly is taken aback at how Gethenians see themselves and are very accepting in who/what they become whether female or male, and are all about seeing the “soul” in each other. They also don’t really care for other world customs, “If there are eighty thousand worlds full of monsters out there among the stars, what of it? We want nothing from them. We’ve chosen our way of life and have followed it for a long time.” (Le Guin 39). I believe the King declines his offer because he fears Genly’s world, since he has no understanding of it. In a sense, Genly also feels isolated from this world as he doesn’t understand how Gethenians think or why they do the things they do.
Due to being stubborn Gently is blinded by his own beliefs and self-interest. This attitude reflects Earth and our own reality and human way of life as it shows how different societies are, and how through politics and other sources we try and implement our way of life towards others. On Earth we have adopted other countries customs and vice versa. Genly’s journey through this different world shows how perspective and environment can really change how you see things. I believe Gethenians reveal something about humans that we can’t become, and that is their interaction with each other in which they see each other as their personality and (change gender) to fit each other. This is probably why Genly finds it hard to accept their customs, on Earth as humans we are lead by gender roles and what society defines man and woman as. The message that Le Guin is trying to convey is that gender and love aren’t inseparable and in the long run gender doesn’t matter when it comes to love. We humans need to see past that barrier of categorizing everyone and recognize each other’s humanity and have them recognize you as who you are as well.
On Earth, genders are definitely something that people take into consideration in many circumstances! (Our gender pay gap) But in a way I kind of like how this alien planet has no specific gender. Although, when people tend to act feministic or feminine, they already get talked down to. In the novel, Faxe is one of the characters that comes in later and has a sexual connection with Genly Ai. The way Genly talks about Faxe, is assuming in a way his feminine characteristics.
ReplyDeleteBut I think it's crazy how we automatically, in a way, just assume to give them feminine strength and qualities. But even though this topic gets tossed around a lot, the topic of genders, I feel that it is a microscopic part of the book. The people on planet Genly see it as normal, and nothing bizarre. And I think the reader should not pay so much attention to it, as I continuously see the repetition of a shadow being mentioned behind various characters. But I do believe this gender(less) planet is definitely one to keep track of as we make our way to finishing the novel.
Hey Arely! Yes I do agree with your comment on our gender influencing many of our lives. Throughout history, men was seen as being superior over women, this label set on people has repeatedly changed a lot of things. For example, store products clearly show the differences as men products are showcased as a darker color (blue or black), and women products are a lighter color like pink or purple. It's crazy to think how things are run in the book and being genderless. It makes me think about how our world would be like if we didn't have different genders at first. Would we be who we are today?
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