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Luis Ramirez

Ms. Batty

English 102

7 November 2018

Society’s Trouble with Gender

Both M. Butterfly by David Hwang and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin

take pre-conceived notions about sexuality and gender and deconstruct them to point out their

prejudices and flaws. They do this by explaining how gender roles, power dynamics, and a

binary way of thinking are harmful to society because they restrict self-expression and put people

into pre-constructed groups. It is clear that both are inspired by the Queer Theory movement and

that ideas such as sexual fluidity, gender as a performance, and the deconstructionist model are

prevalent in both texts, albeit in different ways. Although both texts take vastly different

approaches in conveying the same message their ideas are similar and universal. They both

explore why homosexuality was taboo during their respective times and how society encouraged

homophobia as well as sexism. They are different in the things they choose to emphasize and the

methods they choose to use. The Left Hand of Darkness uses an alien planet and a science fiction

setting to explain how the binary way of thinking humans use (male and female, heterosexual

and homosexual, etc.) is harmful and ultimately foolish. M. Butterfly uses Song and Rene’s

relationship to explain how gender roles are often constructed by society via pressure and

expectations rather than self-expression. Both texts oppose binary ways of thinking, argue that

gender is performative, explain how sexuality can be fluid and explain how these stereotypes are

harmful to society. Perhaps the most important of these is the idea that gender is performed via

the traits society gives each gender.

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M Butterfly and The Left Hand of Darkness both convey the message that gender roles

and traits are performances played by actors rather than actual characteristics each gender

possesses. Judith Butler in Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity makes the

case that gender identity is “constituted by the very ‘expressions’ that are said to be its results”

(25). People are then burdened by these traits and feel compelled to follow their rules and

implications. Both texts agree with Butler and subvert popular traits associated with genders. In

M Butterfly, Song is literally playing a role that she knows Rene will fall in love with. Rene has

pre-conceived notions about what a woman should be: one who is “willing to sacrifice

themselves for the love of man” (Hwang 92). Anything that falls short of this image will not do

for him. Even though he is in love with Song and has spent years with her in happiness he cannot

accept her as a man because of the rules and traits society has thrust upon him. He feels he needs

to be a man and Song a woman who is protected by him. Hwang is pointing out how harmful the

traits society puts on each gender is and how wrong they are. Rene is a man, but is delicate and

vulnerable just as Song is a woman but is strong and the initiator of the relationship. These roles

contradict society’s thoughts about gender. The Left Hand of Darkness also takes the idea of

gender as a performance in the form of Ai’s thoughts on the androgynous Gethenians.

Everything Ai sees and observes about the alien race is clouded by his notions of what gender is

and the traits that come along with them. When Genly is speaking to Estraven, he explains how

Estraven has no “standards of manliness… to complicate his pride (Le Guin 32). Le Guin is

making the case that Estraven is free to act as who he truly is because he has no pre-conceived

notions about gender or what a man should be. Without these traits people would not act as men

or women but as who they truly are. She subverts popular gender roles and explains why they are

wrong through the alien world of Gethen. Ultimately gender is a performance that impedes true
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expression according to both texts. Society’s thoughts on gender are also harmful because they

promote a binary way of thinking.

Both texts imply that the binary way of thinking (male/female, heterosexual, homosexual,

etc.) is harmful and detrimental to minorities who are usually made to be lesser than the majority.

Eve Sedgwick in Epistemology of the Closet points out how “categories presented in a culture

as… binary oppositions… actually subsist in a more unsettled… relation” where “term B is not

symmetrical with but subordinated to term A” (10-11). Because of the fact that the second term

(woman, homosexuality, etc.) exists as a foil to term A (man, heterosexual, etc.) representation

for these communities is lesser. Term A is the standard or what is considered normal. This

creates a society where sexuality and people are put into distinct boxes (some considered more

normal than others) and fluidity is not encouraged or recognized. Le Guin agrees with these

points and emphasizes them when the first investigator of Ekumen recognizes how there is “no

division of humanity into strong and weak halves” and “the whole tendency towards dualism that

pervades human thinking may be… lessened… on Winter” (100). Le Guin implies that this

lessened focus on binary hierarchies leads to less conflict and a more stable society. There is no

rampant racism, sexism, or war on Winter because the human binary way of thinking does not

exist. Gethenians see each other for who they are rather than what society tells them to see

because characteristics and traits are not forced on any gender. Everyone is equal as there is no

term A or term B used to describe sects of people. Hwang uses Gallimard’s opinions about what

a woman or man should be to highlight how this way of thinking is dangerous. Rene loves the

opera Madame Butterfly because he thinks women should be what Butterfly is: delicate, sensual,

and loyal to her man. He thinks as a man he should “protect her, take her home, [and] pamper her

until she smile[s]” (Hwang 16). Hwang is emphasizing how a binary way of thinking has
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clouded Rene’s judgment and made him believe that he and Song need to act in the way society

has taught them to. The woman is relegated to being the protected, pampered, and cared for

while the man is the protector and leader of the relationship. A binary way of thinking has given

each gender these roles and confined them to certain traits. The woman is seen as the opposite of

the man and is treated as such with all of the consequences and sexism that comes with that. This

binary way of thinking has also affected what society thinks about sexuality.

Both texts make the case that sexuality can be fluid and is not just divided into two

categories of straight and homosexual. However, society has pressured many into thinking the

only normal form of sexuality was heterosexual. Michel Foucault in The History of Sexuality,

Volume 1: An Introduction makes the case that much of the discourse on sex throughout history

has been used to “expel… the forms of sexuality that were not amenable to the strict economy of

reproduction” and “exclude practices whose object was not procreation” (36). Sexuality has been

repressed throughout history because of homophobia and other prejudices against various

different kinds of preferences and sexualities. Both texts deal with this societal pressure and how

it affects people who do not fall under the preferences of the majority. This is why in M.

Butterfly Rene cannot deal with the fact that Song is a man. He is incredulous at the fact that he

“wasted so much time on just a man” and thinks Song has “some kind of identity problem”

(Hwang 88). Hwang is pointing out how society’s influences have affected Rene to the point

where he can’t see or feel the love he had for Song anymore. All he sees is a man because

society has taught him he cannot have any intimate relationship with men. Even though he has

the opportunity to be with Song for the remainder of his life he cannot see past Song’s biological

gender. In The Left Hand of Darkness the first observes of Gethen note how the idea of sexuality

beyond Earth’s is “almost impossible for our imagination to accept” and that it “is an appalling
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experience” to be treated as simply human (Le Guin 49). Le Guin is emphasizing how society

has made it near impossible to imagine sexuality beyond our pre-conceived notions. She is

making the case that sexuality should be seen as something that is fluid and has many different

possibilities. People should not be treated differently because of their sexuality since it is a

relatively small part of a person’s overall character. Others however would disagree with these

texts on their messages as well as the interpretation of them.

Some critics disagree with popular notions about queer theory and interpretations of the

two texts. For instance, Martha Nussbaum in The Professor of Parody criticizes Butler’s work

for being “difficult to figure out” and “ponderous and obscure” (2). She also notes how Butler’s

work takes from “figures [who] do not all agree with one other” leading to her arguments being

“buttressed by appeal to… many contradictory concepts and doctrines” without any offered

solution as to “how the apparent contradictions will be resolved” (2). Many other scholars have

noted similar things about Butler’s arguments. However these things do not completely make

Butler’s arguments invalid or change the notion of gender as a performance. As both texts have

made clear, society pressures people into acting a certain way based on gender or other factors.

This can be seen through the way gender expectations have changed and what it means to be a

man or woman has changed in recent history. Others might disagree with the association with

queer theory being a central factor in either texts. However, the overall messages, symbolisms,

and themes both texts share are very similar to those found in Queer Theory. Both texts are in a

way critiquing society through their main characters and their lack of understanding for other

sexualities and lack of gender. Le Guin and Hwang have made clear that Rene and Ai do not

have realistic expectations or perceptions of what it is to be human. They are both bogged down

in society’s expectations and this is evident in Rene’s rejection of Song and Ai’s trouble with
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seeing Gethenians as neither male or female, but simply human. These ideas are found and

interwoven in Queer Theory and both make the case for LGTBQ+ rights. Although they achieve

the same message through different means, they both advocate for a move away from traditional

gender roles and gender being a key characteristic of a person.

Both M Butterfly and The Left Hand of Darkness have themes and messages deeply

interwoven with Queer Theory, although they achieve these messages through different mediums.

Rene is used as a critique of gender roles, which are not accurate, and as an example of how

these gender roles impact people who do not fall under the umbrella of the majority. The

Gethenian society is a thought experiment that highlights how emphasis on the differences

between two genders creates a binary way of thinking which is dangerous and restrictive. These

ideas are prevalent throughout Queer Theory and ideas about gender as a performance, repressed

sexuality, and binary thinking are associated with prominent authors in Queer Theory literature.

These ideas are used to explain how society’s pressures disadvantage minorities and repress

expression. At the core of the two texts is the message that self-expression is hindered by societal

standards and the way gender roles lead to unfair expectations. Both authors try to take popular

notions about what drives human behavior and argues why these notions are both wrong and

harmful. They serve as critiques of the way of thinking that stereotypes and prejudices introduce

into popular culture. By introducing new ideas, they begin to change the discourse and

discussion around gender roles, sexuality, and binary thinking in a more positive way.
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Works Cited

Butler, Judith. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge, 1990.

Foucault, Michael. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction. Pantheon Books,

1978.

Hwang, David. M Butterfly. New American Library, 1988.

Le Guin, Ursula. The Left Hand of Darkness. Ace Science Fiction Books, 1969.

Nussbaum, Martha C. “The Professor of Parody.” New Republic, vol. 220, no. 8, Feb.

1999, p. 37. EBSCOhost, library.lavc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.

com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=f5h&AN=1511560&site=eds-live.

Sedgwick, Eve. Epistemology of the Closet. University of California Press, 1990.

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