The Left Hand of Darkness: An Exploration of Gender

I don’t want to give away the ending of the book, but if you haven’t read this book yet, this is what you have to know. Genly Ai is a dark-skinned, male ambassador who visits the planet, Winter, on behalf of the Ekumen which is effectively an interplanetary federation. His job is to convince the governing bodies on Winter that their planet should join the Ekumen. The inhabitants of Winter are ambisexual humans. This means that they spend most of their lives genderless and sexless, but briefly enter periods where they adopt masculine or feminine traits for the purposes of reproduction before returning to their regular state. The author created this society in order to explore the concepts of gender roles and identities and their dependence on the societal expectations for different genders. However, in today’s society, it’s also a useful catalyst for discussing nonbinary identities, gender fluidity, and gender queerness.

This book has received criticism and backlash from both ends of the political spectrum. It has been challenged on numerous occasions by those who wished to ban it in response to its discussion of gender and its portrayal of a society built on gender fluidity. It has also been criticized by members of the feminist movement who thought it did not go far enough in it its critique of gender norms. There are also some who disliked the use of masculine pronouns as the genderless default.

Many of the critiques are built on the language used by Le Guin in the novel, so let’s talk about the diction she used. This book was first published in 1969, and that does leave some of the language feeling dated. Le Guin generally refers to the inhabitants of Winter as androgynous, though he word we would use today, to refer to the way the alien race shifts their sex organs according to their reproductive needs is ambisexual. We would also, likely use different language to discuss the way that gender has little impact on the way they select a partner. In contrast, Le Guin uses the term bisexual to refer to the gendered society that the main character comes from, which has a vastly different definition in our present society. Typically, the term bisexual refers to a sexual orientation in which a person is attracted to two or more genders. I’ll admit that, for me, as a reader, it was a little irritating to translate between my understanding of the word and her use of the word. And it suggests a lack of awareness of the LGBTQ+ community at the time of writing it. However, the Stonewall Uprising occurred in the same year, and I can’t say that I expected feminism of that time to be specifically aware and inclusive of Queer issues in the way that we do today.

As I mentioned earlier, people also critique her use of masculine pronouns as the default language for an ambisexual, nonbinary people. Critics generally say that her exploration of gender norms and the gender construct was hurt by not using pronouns created specifically for the purposes of the book or by using some form of gender-neutral pronouns. If the book was written today, I would whole-heartedly agree, especially because readers of today will take our current understanding of nonbinary, gender fluid, and gender queer identities into consideration while reading. While some feminists will disagree with me, I find it less troublesome when thinking about the gender binary as it relates to the women’s rights movement. The main character, Genly Ai, is a man who comes from a deeply gendered society which holds strict gender norms. And he spends a lot of time trying to process the way the aliens he encounters challenge his sense of self and the gendered way he sees the world. He sees the world through a highly gendered, masculine lens. Because we, as readers, are encountering the world through his perspective, I think it makes sense for the language to lean into his gendered way of thinking. I should mention, however, that the author regrets her language choices and would have written the book differently had she written it in later years.

I think that our society’s burgeoning discussion and awareness of nonbinary identities and gender fluidity adds an interesting element to reading this book with a critical lens. Of course, the language used in the book feels dated to today’s readers, and it was written with feminism in mind more so than Queerness, but it still lends something to thoughts on gender as a social construct as it relates to queer expressions of gender and even movements that push back against gender altogether. This book pushes readers to ask questions like: If there is no such thing as gender, what is left? How do you identify if not by your gender? Is gender real or imagined? How does gender influence the way you move through the world? What do gender constructs give us as a society and as individuals, and what do they take away? What does it mean when you do not fit the gendered expectations of your surroundings?

Interestingly, the book takes someone whose masculine gender gives him power and a certain sense of identity in his own society and places him in a society in which his way of existing is entirely foreign. Though human, he is the alien visitor and must learn what it means for his gender and sexuality to make him vulnerable. In the society he visits, someone who is constantly in a masculine or feminine state is looked down on as sexually perverse. This has been a common accusation of people who do not fit the gender binary or are otherwise part of the LGBTQ+ community. This is what I think this book does best. It takes a character who has always been in the majority when it comes to sex and gender and forces him to consider an alternate way of thinking because he is suddenly in the minority.

There is one other thing I think is important to bring up. The main character, Genly, is repeatedly referred to as dark-skinned. His skin is dark enough that he stands out on the planet he visits as ambassador and sometimes puts him at risk because he is easily recognized. Now, his race or ethnicity is never discussed, presumably because it’s not important to the story. But I think some modern readers will note this as a detail that could have been worth exploring. While it’s important to have characters whose race or ethnicity is casually included, the emphasis of the character’s color is hurt by its lack of discussion.

The Left Hand of Darkness is a really interesting book that, despite its faults, encourages discussions of gender and sexuality in a way that, I think, is really valuable. I won’t say that it’s perfect by any means, but perfection is hard to find. It’s an honest and interesting dialogue that frames important questions in a unique way. And for those that enjoy the science fiction genre, it’s a great way to think about important topics through an entertaining and creative story.