"Our entire pattern of soco-sexual interaction is non-exsistant here. The Gethenians do not see one another as men or woman. This is almost impossible for our imaginations to accept. After all, what is the first question we ask about a newborn baby.
Yet you cannot think of a Gethenian as "it". They are not neuters. They are potentials during each sexual cycle - they may develope in either direction for the duration of that cycle. No physiological habit is established, and the mother of several children may be the father of several more."
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. LeGuin, (c) 1969, Ace Books
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