First thoughts on "The Birthday of the World" by Ursula K Le Guin

[alias_sqbr]

Ok you are all fired for not making me read this book of short stories before now. So much delicious science fictiony exploration of gender and sexuality and the complex interplay between biology and society. Like Octavia Butler, Ursula K Le Guin is pretty obviously a romantic sexual straight cis woman who doesn't really get other (existing, human) kinds of gender/sexuality, and that limits the writing. She also has SUCH A THING FOR MARRIAGE OMG. I mean, I'm married! Marriage is great! But it's still a bit much.

That said she obviously tried to expand her horizons in the decades since she wrote "The Left hand of Darkness", there is human!queerness and alien!queerness and the intersections between the two, though generally only one at a time so far (I'm about halfway through the book).

It still feels very much like a second wave feminist understanding of gender, albeit one softened by modern ideas, anthropological education, and compassion. Gender is almost entirely a social construct while biological sex is simple, unambiguous, and inescapable (with the exception of the briefly mentioned and rare monosexed pseudo-humans amongst the usually dual-sexed Gethenians) There's a tendency for characters to be genderqueer but heterosexual deep down under whatever conditioning they get from society. She explores how homosexuality/bisexuality/heterosexuality and (to a lesser extent) monogamy fits into her worlds, but I keep wondering about intersex, trans, and non binary gendered people. Or aromantic/asexual people, or other new equivalents like Gethenians whose kemmering doesn't fit the "become the opposite sex to the person you're around and desire sex with them" pattern. Like, what if you became the SAME sex? Or entered a sexually mature non binary gendered state?

I still have a few stories to go, but wanted to get my thoughts out now while they were fresh. I've been quite enjoying reading short fiction while out on public transport, I find it hard to keep track of novels. Alas my tastes on short fiction are very narrow, but I'm sure I can find more to read once I'm done with this and Steampowered 2.

Comments

[dharma_slut]

I cannot read most of her work, and I think she absolutely fails-- every single time-- with regard to gender and identity. But I just now ordered a copy of "Always Coming Home" which I've read twice in the past-- and each time, passed to someone with all my love.

I only hope that it's not going to insult me with something I didn't notice before.

[alias_sqbr]

*nods* I usually enjoy her worldbuilding, but there are definitely things she just Does Not Get.

[nixwilliams]

I absolutely Ursula le Guin, so in order not to be fired, I now recommend you go and read all of her work! My favourite collection is The Compass Rose, I think. But I often find myself thinking of 'Paradises Lost', one of the stories in Birthday of the World. Unlike some other trans/queer people I know, I've always found her attempts to rethink sex, gender and sexuality really interesting (even/especially the ones that don't 'fit' me).

[alias_sqbr]

I've already read a lot of her novels! Just not her short fiction, because I am not a fan of short fiction in general. Some authors manage to get past that, and she seems to be one of them, yay. So I will check out Compass Rose.

Unlike some other trans/queer people I know, I've always found her attempts to rethink sex, gender and sexuality really interesting (even/especially the ones that don't 'fit' me).

Yeah, I don't agree with all the conclusions she comes to but she constructs some very interesting questions.

[nixwilliams]

Yes! I think that's why I love her stories so much.

I really feel like her 'conclusions', at least in her short stories, are more like commas or semi-colons than full-stop-last-paragraph-fin-end-of-story kind of conclusions (both in terms of story-conclusions and answer-conclusions). The questions keep evolving in my mind long after I've put the book down - which is pretty much my definition of a good book!

And yes, she doesn't get all the gender/sex stuff 'right' (though should that really be the ultimate marker we use to judge art?), but I'd take her compassionate attempts to think through it over the millions of writers who don't even bother to try.

/PRO-UKLG RANT

[alias_sqbr]

I really feel like her 'conclusions', at least in her short stories, are more like commas or semi-colons than full-stop-last-paragraph-fin-end-of-story kind of conclusions (both in terms of story-conclusions and answer-conclusions). The questions keep evolving in my mind long after I've put the book down - which is pretty much my definition of a good book!

Well put.

[sami]

The dual-gendered setup does have a lot of potential. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense, of a sort, to be the same sex until you actually wanted to procreate? Birth control is inherent! But maybe there'd be evolutionary pressure against that. Or something.

[alias_sqbr]

The Gethians evolved that way (sort of) so yeah, if they had birth control that effective probably would have died out. It's not presented as convenient or optimal to the characters or society :)

[mooreeffoc]

I find both Butler and Le Guin frustrating authors for the reasons you mentioned, though I still appreciate/enjoy their work. The Telling features what I think is Le Guin's best treatment of human!queerness, but it's been a long time since I read it. I came to her later books first, so had a few moments of disappointment/surprise when I read my way back through her bibliography; it's quite startling how much she's changed.

Also, I would've loved to see more material dealing with the lives of monosexed Gethenians/same-sex kemmering Gethenians/etc. Birthday is a fantastic collection, but there are some glaring omissions.

[alias_sqbr]

I came to her later books first, so had a few moments of disappointment/surprise when I read my way back through her bibliography; it's quite startling how much she's changed.

Ouch. Luckily I'm more going the other way so the surprises tend to be happier.

The End and the Way by Luzula is a great fanfic about a single sexed Gethenian.