Gender equality has always been an important theme in Le Guin's fiction. She says, in The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, that she writes this kind of fiction because it allows her to explore how society would be without sexism and gender discrimination. The Kesh are essentially a non-discriminatory people. A person's worth is not based on power or social relationships, but on how much he or she contributes to all major areas of society. The Condor society is diametrically opposite of the Kesh. Their society is based on male descent/relationship to the One Condor. This culture segregates women, keeping them ignorant and underground Le Guin sets up these two societies, presenting the Kesh first, so that the shock and horror of the Condor society is more striking.....
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