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Jason B 🧙‍♂️May 8, 2023

Ursula K. Le Guin discussing her regrets about not using more gender-neutral language in her book 'The Left Hand of Darkness', the significance of pronouns, and the grammatical accuracy of the singular 'they':

"English has a truly ungendered pronoun only in the plural. He, she, and it are gendered, they is not. [...] Historically, and colloquially, they has been regularly used as an ungendered or bisexual singular."

🔗: http://theliterarylink.com/afterword.html

#UrsulaKLeguin #gender #diversity #pronouns

Afterward to Left Hand of Darkness, Le Guin 1994 | The Literary Link

Since my post on Ursula K. Le Guin's approach to gender-neutral pronouns and her being firmly in support of the singular 'they' is still getting some traction, it's also worth sharing this long but definitely interesting interview to The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) from 2017 where she revisits the subject, among several other things.

'A Conversation on Craft with Ursula K. Le Guin'
🔗: https://www.awpwriter.org/magazine_media/writers_chronicle_view/4249/a_conversation_on_craft_with_ursula_k._le_guin

#UrsulaKLeguin #gender #diversity #pronouns #books #bookstodon

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Alina Leonova May 9, 2023

@fringemagnet I'm reading Left Hand of Darkness now, and "he" keeps confusing me because I can't stop myself from imagining a man when I read that, even though I know these people are genderless. It makes sense that it's because of when it was written, but it's still annoying 😅

@AlinaLeonova It definitely *is* annoying and distracts you from imagining the characters as truly genderless, and it is one of the major criticisms that the book received too. The good thing is that she ended up fully acknowledging that and admitting to wishing she would have done it differently. But yeah, it's confusing af. XD

Alina Leonova May 11, 2023

@fringemagnet That's definitely not Ursula Le Guin's fault, she had to work with whatever was possible at the time, and she managed to write a progressive book despite that. I'd personally prefer a made-up pronoun since "they" wasn't an option, but I respect her opinion that she "couldn't do it to English" even though I disagree 😁 Having used "she" instead of "he" as a default would have been cooler too, though still not right.

Phil Sherry May 8, 2023

@fringemagnet Wait… “it” is gendered? I’m migraining *very* heavily right now so my brain may as well be a lump of pease pudding on fire, but I’m not sure how that even makes sense.

@philsherry She provides more context in the text I linked about that. It's worth reading.

Phil Sherry May 8, 2023

@fringemagnet I will, but today is not that day. 🤕

BeeCycling has moved May 8, 2023

@fringemagnet Le Guin showing that you can reflect on what you did in the past, see that you've grown in understanding, see the world has changed, and know that you can do better now. And most importantly, not consider it weakness to admit to imperfection. Unlike so many people who will never admit to falling short or being flat out wrong and will just double down.

@beecycling Perfectly put, couldn't have said it better. And all that back in 1994, almost 30 years ago. Many people today could learn a lot from her way of handling things and her openness to learning new information and to admitting of having been wrong.

Luna Vives May 8, 2023

@fringemagnet @beecycling

Yes! And she wrote a short story in 1995, "Coming of age in Karhide" (not for kids 😅) also set on Gethem where she showed the point of view of its inhabitants with a new gender sensibility. It's a breathtaking and steamy story, totally worth reading / listening too!

IMO, #LeGuin's work only got better with age.

@lunavives @beecycling Very much agreed, I also think that her work definitely improved with age.

llewelly May 8, 2023

@fringemagnet
LeGuin later wrote at least one, maybe two additional short stories that take place on the same planet as _The Left Hand of Darkness_, which make extensive use of singular they. (I used to have everything LeGuin published, but then, life happened I don't have most of them anymore, so I can't check.)

@llewelly I feel you, after moving country more than once, a lot of my books have been lost, donated, or left behind. And indeed she did, she was generally very open in how she approached the matter and also open to admitting that she saw things differently upon receiving new information since The Left Hand of Darkness was published.

Luna Vives May 8, 2023

@llewelly @fringemagnet

Coming of age in Karhide 😊

llewelly May 8, 2023

@lunavives @fringemagnet
Thank you! That's what I was trying to recall.

nebulos May 9, 2023

@fringemagnet I'm waiting/hoping for an edition that uses they instead of he. Gonna buy the crap out of that.