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Quote by Ursula K. Le Guin

“Consider: Anyone can turn his hand to anything. This sounds very simple, but its psychological effects are incalculable. The fact that everyone between seventeen and thirty-five or so is liable to be (as Nim put it) "tied down to childbearing," implies that no one is quite so thoughly "tied down" here as women, elsewhere, are likely to be -- psuchologically or physically. Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally; everybody has the same risk to run or choice to make. Therefore nobody here is quite so free as a free male anywhere else.”

Book:The Left Hand of Darkness

Work

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin's novel is set in a distant future where human-like beings called the Ekumen live on various planets. The story follows a male human envoy, Genly Ai, who travels to the planet Gethen to win its inclusion in the Ekumen. The inhabitants of Gethen are ambisexual, capable of changing their gender, which adds a unique perspective to the narrative and raises questions about gender identity and human nature. more

Author

Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin, born on October 21, 1929, is an esteemed American author of science fiction and fantasy. Known for her profound philosophical insights, rich imagination, and unique narrative style, Le Guin's works have won numerous literary awards and have had a significant impact on science fiction and fantasy literature. Her most famous works include the 'Earthsea' series and 'The Left Hand of Darkness', which have won her awards such as the Nebula and Hugo Awards, and she has also received the National Book Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to literature. more

“Consider: Anyone can turn his hand to anything. This sounds very simple, but its psychological effects are incalculable. The fact that everyone between seventeen and thirty-five or so is liable to be (as Nim put it) "tied down to childbearing," implies that no one is quite so thoughly "tied down" here as women, elsewhere, are likely to be -- psychologically or physically. Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally; everybody has the same risk to run or choice to make. Therefore nobody here is quite so free as a free male anywhere else.”

Sex Sexism Gender Equality Gender Roles Social Commentary Social Norms

Book:The Left Hand of Darkness

Source: The Left Hand of Darkness

“Now he is free from thoughts, from memory, from the passing seconds and from the state of the world. Sex is a different medium, refracting time and sense, a biological hyperspace as remote from consience existance as dreams, or as water is from air. As his mother used to say, another element; the day is changed, Henry, when you take a swim.”

Sex

Book:Saturday

Source: Saturday

“The archetype of all fiction is the sexual act. In saying this I do not mean merely to remind the reader of the connection between all art and the erotic in human nature. Nor do I intend simply to suggest an analogy between fiction and sex. For what connects fiction-and music-with sex is the fundamental orgastic rhythm of tumescence and detumescence, of tension and resolution, of intensification to the point of climax and consummation. In the sophisticated forms of fiction, as in the sophisticated practice of sex, much of the art consists of delaying climax within the framework of desire in order to prolong the pleasurable act itself. When we look at fiction with respect to its form alone, we see a pattern of events designed to move toward climax and resolution, balanced by a counter-pattern of events designed to delay this very climax and resolution.”

Sex

Author:Robert Scholes

“It never ceases to amaze me that people can get pregnant just by having sex.”