I am still very confused about this book but to my understanding, Genly Ai has trouble understanding how the Gethenian society is. In chapter one he explains, “Though I had been nearly two years on Winter I was still far from being able to see the people of the planet through their own eyes. I tried to, but my efforts took the form of self-consciously seeing a Gethenian first as a man, then as a woman, forcing him into those categories so irrelevant to his nature and so essential to my own.” (12) You can see that Genly Ai, even after being on Winter for two years, still can’t comprehend how there are no genders. Which, is understandable because I can barely wrap my head around this idea of there being neither men nor women. Instead of trying to see them for how they are he tries to make them seem like what he is used to seeing, which would be viewing everyone as either a man or a woman. Another thing that Genly Ai does not understand is the concept of kemmering and quite frankly I still have questions about it as well.
Genly has a sort of negative attitude towards women. He often insults characters by giving them female-like qualities. By these actions I assume the world he came from definitely saw women as lower than men. Which is much like our world. Even now in 2016 when women have more rights than ever before, they still are seen as the inferior gender.
I can understand where you'd get confused because some of the things in the book also confused me. If you have any more questions on kemmering you should read Chapter 7 again because it gives you more in depth insight on kemmer. You can see the Genly Ai does have some negative feelings about women when he uses them in a bad connotation. Some of the things that go on in this book is confusing so it is understandable why many are confused. I still find their biological and sociological culture fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI too find this book very confusing and I can't seem to wrap my head around their culture and the whole gender thing. I feel like because I can't can't picture what the person is, I can't produce an image in my head so it makes it hard for me to follow the book. Is it like that for you too? Though, I do feel like I would enjoy the book if it were a little easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteI also found some parts of this book confusing when I first started reading it. For example, the idea of people from Gethen being gender less. I didn't really understand how and why they were like this. Then I realized that they were individuals that shared the biological and emotional makeup of both sexes. After understanding the myth, it helped me realize how they live in the society they come from.
ReplyDeleteI also found some parts of this book confusing when I first started reading it. For example, the idea of people from Gethen being gender less. I didn't really understand how and why they were like this. Then I realized that they were individuals that shared the biological and emotional makeup of both sexes. After understanding the myth, it helped me realize how they live in the society they come from.
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to understand why it's so hard for him to understand and adapt to their world. After living there for two year, you would think anybody would just get used to it.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder how women are treated where he comes from. I mean, yes, their seen as inferior, but down to the point where any insult he makes has to swing back to being about females? Where do women stand where he comes from? Do they have restrictions and certain expectations? Why are they seen as inferior?