Status Updates From The Left Hand of Darkness

A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience.

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.

i think ke le guin has such a way with breaking down her foreign worlds. having investigators sent to a new world to examine the local culture and reporting back is such a great vehicle for info dumping. exploring the differences of bi-sexual society and an androgynous society and implications of what sexual duality means for the culture is so interesting!