Megan Barnes > Recent Status Updates

Still hate

Dislike a lot

Boring

Or maybe Le Guin assumed that her average reader, male and female, would assume that in anyone capable of both genders would choose whatever is most practical and non-ornamental which on Earth tends to be male coded (pants vs skirts)? But still, the pronoun usage and descriptions of someone as a “fat old man” has deeper implications than mere pronouns.

Calling these characters “he/him” for people who are meant to be truly androgynous adds a layer of mental complexion that only feel genuine when we’re reading from the “alien” Mr. AI’s perspective. When in Estraven’s perspective would a truly androgynous culture use cisgender pronouns outside of their “Kemmer”? Le Guin made the conscious choice of pronouns but I’m not sure it serves the novel.

I’m struggling and I wonder if it’s because the pronouns are jarring as a modern reader compared to the type of person who’d have read this book in 1969.

🙄😐

Mary choosing to be a disciple…the book is supposed to be funny but the one moment any female reader is looking for is a shit line about getting nausea whilst traveling. Moore wrote Mary to be fierce and then takes the cowards way out by making her excuse her own exclusion from being as apostle as though she just *wasn’t cut out for it*. Mary Magdalene deserved better.

Of course, this is still a book written by a man so women are still talked about as objects. We’re either the Madonna or the Whores.

Plodding. It’s been droll but not quite humorous enough. I’m sticking around because I know what’s going to happen and I do enjoy Moore’s envisioning of a young Jesus/Joshua, especially as a foil to Biff. The book makes me sad though. Know what’s going to happen to Joshua…and I know that his legacy will be bastardized.