The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness is a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. 
It was published in 1969 and is an early example of feminist science fiction and genderfuck. 
The book won both a Hugo and a Nebula. It is set in Le Guin's Hainish universe.
A fan in 1975 said in an letter of comment to the zine Tetrumbriant #2.2 that the book was: 
It has been cited by some fans as being slashy and/or their introduction to the slash genre. 
In February 1982, this book was listed in the slash Starsky & Hutch letterzine, Hanky Panky, with other pro science fiction books having a slashy or queer slant. The list: "Marion ZimmerBradley's Darkover books, Tales of Neveryon, Delaney, The Left Hand of Darkness, LeGuin, Ace Chrome, Nader, Jove, Interview With the Vampire, Rice, How Are the Mighty Fallen, Swann" 
==Content==
The novel follows Genly Ai, a native of Terra (Earth), who is sent to the planet of Gethen as an envoy of the Ekumen, a loose confederation of planets. Ai's mission is to persuade the nations of Gethen to join the Ekumen, but he is stymied by his lack of understanding of Gethenian culture. A focus of the novel is the relationship between Ai and Estraven, a Gethenian politician who trusts and helps him, and whom AI learns about Gethanian culture and society through.
The people of Gethen are ambisexual humans, with no fixed sex. They are androgynes, biologically intersex humans. For twenty-four days (somer) of each twenty-six-day lunar cycle they sexually latent and biologically neuter. They only adopt sexual attributes once a month, during a period of sexual receptiveness and high fertility, called kemmer. During kemmer they become sexually male or female, as determined by pheromonal negotiation with an interested sex partner. Individuals have no predisposition towards either, although which sex they adopt can depend on context and relationships. Thus each individual can both sire and bear children.Sarah LeFanu (January 3, 2004). "The king is pregnant". The Guardian. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
Throughout the novel Gethenians are described as "he", whatever their role in kemmer. This absence of fixed gender characteristics led Le Guin to portray Gethen as a society without war, and also without sexuality as a continuous factor in social relationships. On Gethen, every individual takes part in the "burden and privilege" of raising children, and rape and seduction are almost absent.
==Response==
The novel's use of masculine "he/him/his" gender pronouns to describe its androgynous characters was criticized. Criticism was also directed at the portrayal of androgynous characters in the "masculine" roles of politicians and statesmen but not in family roles. Le Guin responded to these criticisms in her essay "Is Gender Necessary?" as well as by switching masculine pronouns for feminine "she/her/hers" pronouns in a later reprinting of "Winter's King", an unconnected short story set on Gethen. In her responses, Le Guin admitted to failing to depict androgynes in stereotypically feminine roles, but said that she considered and decided against inventing gender-neutral pronouns, because they would mangle the language of the novel.
A 1977 poem in Interphase #4 by Ruth Barker was specifically titled, "Left Hand of Darkness" and it was "involved by the mood of Gayle F's "Left Hand of Darkness" in the ST Calendar in Interphase 3."
The Left Hand of Darkness was compared to one of the earliest sash novels.
A fan in Spectrum #29 (December 1976) reviewed Gerry Downes' seminal Kirk/Spock novel and said: 
===Fandom===
Although both of the characters in the novel's central relationship use "he/him/his" pronouns, they are not both men. All people of Gethen spend most of their time as sexually latent androgynes and do not identify solely with masculinity or femininity. At one point, while Estraven and Ai are sharing a tent, Estraven enters kemmer, a natural period of sexual receptiveness, and becomes sexually female due to his body's reaction to Ai's fixed male pheromones. However, at no point are they physically intimate. Although the two become close enough to develop a type of telepathic bond, they do not begin an overtly romantic relationship. 
However, that hasn't stopped fans from shipping Genly Ai and Estraven, and it has been pointed out that the book is implied to be told through not-entirely reliable narrators. As a result, several fans have mentioned that it is entirely possible they did have sex in the tent.
Others see their relationship as queerplatonic, or something of a smiliar ilk.
==Influence on Fans==
This novel also influenced other fans in their creative endeavors. According to Jacqueline Lichtenberg, one of these fans was Marion Zimmer Bradley and Bradley's Darkover novel, "World Wreckers."
In November 1977, a fan named Marci Segal wrote an article comparing Bradley's "World Wreckers" with LeGuin's "Left Hand of Darkness." A fan that same month said the: 
A fan wrote to Darkover Newsletter #11 (1978) and postulated: 
 
In an undated post, Lichtenberg said Bradley told her: 
==Fanworks Inspired==
* The Left Hand of Madness (Star Trek: Voyager, 1995)
==Resources==
* at Archive of Our Own
==References==
Category:The Left Hand of Darkness
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