Megan Barnes’s Reviews > The Left Hand of Darkness > Status Update
Megan Barnes
is on page 141 of 304
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.
— Sep 29, 2025 07:16PM
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Megan Barnes’s Previous Updates
Megan Barnes
is on page 144 of 304
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.
— Sep 29, 2025 07:29PM
Megan Barnes
is on page 140 of 304
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.
— Sep 29, 2025 07:15PM
