sex & treason, not in a way someone would expect

Chapter 7 of The Left Hand of Darkness was definitely an interesting chapter, one that really caught my attention. The chapter was called The Question of Sex. It talked about how the Gethenian sexual physiology could have possibly come about. According to the book, it was an experiment gone wrong and then abandoned. This is something that I would expect to be involved in a science fiction book, experiments that most humans would find either fascinating or disturbing. Personally, I would be one of the disturbed people. The experiment seems like something a mad scientist would do. Also, in this chapter, the Gethenian sex cycle and “laws” regarding sex were explained. For a while, I was unclear what “kemmering” meant. According to the sex cycle, individuals who enter kemmer are “sexually active” and are either male or female. This stage of the cycle only lasts about a couple of days. The “laws” of kemmer were also explained. “Incest is permitted, with various restrictions.” I found that to be very repulsing. If a child is born through incest, then there’s a possibility of genetic abnormalities. However, I’m not sure if this applies to Gethenians. Maybe there’s no such thing as genetic abnormalities and that’s why incest is permitted. In chapter 9, Estraven the Traitor, Therem was called Estraven the Traitor because he gave up half of the land that was disputed over to the other domain. Land was viewed as a sign of power. Although Therem gave up land and “power,” he did bring peace between the two domains. For that, I do not believe Therem should have been called Estraven the Traitor. Nowadays, that would most likely be viewed as a peace treaty instead of an act of treason.