Then, Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness in the first semester of my MA program. Today, as I leafed through the first few pages, I found it quite belatedly--"Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, daughter of a. L. Krober (anthropologist) ...." Ah... yes, of course. That explains a lot.
Let's take a look at page 90, or if you happen to have a different edition, well, just listen. This is about the protagonist's study of the sexual physiology of the Gethenians.
"The sexual cycle averages 26 to 28 days (they tend to speak of it as 26 days, approximating it to the lunar cycle). For 21 or 22 days the individual is somer, sexually inactive, latent. On about the 18th day hormonal changes are initiated by the pituitary control and on the 22nd or 23rd day the individual enters kemmer, estrus. In this first phase of kemmer (Karh, secher) he remains completely androgynous. Gender, and potency, are not attained in isolation. ... When the individual finds a partner in kemmer, hormonal secretion is further stimulated (most importantly by touch--secretion? scent?) until in one partner either a male or female hormonal dominance is established. ... Normal individuals have no predisposition to either sexual role in kemmer; they do not know whether they will be the male or the female, and have no choice in the matter."
It is very much unfortunate and regrettable that the androgynous individual should be gendered. With all neologisms, still no gender neutral pronouns. But at any rate, a very interesting notion of sex, although my kinky excitement was much turned off by the fact that there is fixed estrus.
And most recently, the Asari race, from the Mass Effect universe. (It's one of the most successful video game franchises, for your information. Its genre is futuristic(sci-fi) space-exploration roleplaying game, I would say.)
(From Mass Effect Wiki:)
/// Though they resemble females, at least to humans, asari are non-gender specific, with no concept of gender differences. Liara [an Asari character] says her species is "mono-gendered—male and female have no real meaning for us." ... Although asari have one gender, they are not asexual. An asari provides two copies of her own genes to her offspring, which—regardless of the species or sex of the 'father'—is always an asari, and in the case that the offspring is of two asari, the father is the one who does not give birth. The second set is altered in a unique process called melding, also known as the joining.
During melding, an asari consciously attunes her nervous system to her partner's, sending and receiving electrical impulses directly through the skin. ... Effectively, the asari and her partner briefly become one unified nervous system. ... The partner can be another asari, or an alien of any gender. However, since the asari began encountering other sentient species, non-asari mates have become preferred for the diversity they provide. This reproductive process can lead to some confusion among non-asari, who might expect offspring with "mixed" genes. However, the offspring is always 100% asari as no DNA is taken from the partner, but is rather used as a "map" to randomize the genes of the offspring.
An asari's melding ability extends to a mental connection as well, which Liara describes as being the true union between an asari and her partner. It allows the asari to explore her partner's genetic heritage and pass desirable traits on to any offspring. During mating an asari and her partner share memories, thoughts, and feelings. It is also possible for an asari to meld with another for the sole purpose of transferring thoughts, without reproduction. ///
Quite fascinating, isn't it? It is obvious that the writers behind this lore were obviously taking to the extreme a) the concept of mental/psychological/emotional side of sexual intercourse, and b) the intermingling of histories through that of 'blood'. The result is the ultimate form of, at least from human's perspective, matriarchal society.
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