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Halfway Human

di Carolyn Ives Gilman

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
3021186,282 (4.06)15
Tedla is young, beautiful and blond but is neither he nor she. On a far-off world, an asexual class of blands exists to serve their fellow humans, protected and isolated from contact with the rest of the universe. But no bland has ever left its sheltered homeworld--until now. Tedla has been found in an alley light-years away from its planet. And it has just tried to commit suicide. Val, an expert in alien cultures, helps Tedla recuperate and in doing so, uncovers the secret tortured world of the blands.… (altro)
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I love Gilman's work; the second one I've read from"Twenty Planets." For all the harm to people that gender does, what would happen if you were assigned no gender, and had no reproductive organs? Well, it would cut down on the problems of overpopulation, if a third of humanity were genderless. That could save destruction of the planet. But what if it were a giant eugenics program, and the genderless were used as menials, and were oppressed, cruelly, violently? ( )
  burritapal | Oct 23, 2022 |
Just as good the second time. What a wonderful book. ( )
  BananaSquirrel | Jul 31, 2021 |
Halfway Human deals with a distant and very different future.In the novels tells the story of Tedla and its home planet of Gammadis-a human descended planet featuring three genders-male, female and neuter-called bland.
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On the surface Gammadis is humanity in a very real Utopian-like future making very real choices all human societies will have to make if we plan to continue as a species. I would almost consider Gammadians enlightened, if not for the status and treatment of blands. As a forward thinking "enlightened" culture they decided to make permanent cultural changes to forever change Gammadis's destiny from following the destructive path of earth.One such change made was not living on the surface of Gammadis. Instead they live completely underneath,no construction or environmental damages exist on the surface of Gammadis, there are elaborate living quarters under ground which have night and day settings and are very airy. Another cultural change is the family unit. This is a brilliant move, which changes much more than simply population control by abolishing familial ties, imagine what politics would look like in this nation if there were no family ties? Also serves to destroy differences caused by social castes-you can not inherit your families wealth, power and position if there is no family-which serves to level the playing field for everyone. Women still have babies, but after the babies are born they go to a creche.In the creche children are primarily taken care of by blands and are over-seen by the humans in charge of each particular creche. Abolishing families also abolishes much of the population problem.Lack of family units also acts as a societal equalizer, there are no family ties or bonds to cause preferential treatment in employment or education. Of course preference still exists, but it is much minimized by lack of family unit. Fascinating solution for population control but the methods to control the population do not stop with an end to families. Gammadis goes one step further all children on Gammadis are born neuter with the "potential" to become human(male/female) in their teen years. All children are primarily treated equally, of course more attractive children are doted on. At the entrance to the teens,12-13, all Gammadian children become either human (male/female) or non-human-bland (neuter). Blands are considered to be slow, stupid, alternately sullen and happy, lazy and a responsibility for the poor humans (male and females) responsible for making all decisions and caring for them. Tedla has the great misfortune to go to sleep a neutered "potential" human child and wake up a non-human bland. Blands live in what is referred to as "grayspace"-a sister community built side-by-side underground with humans. Blands ease their weight on society by being maids, cooks, gardners, butlers, etc to the humans entrusted with the care and responsibility of the world and of course, blands. In essence blands become slaves. No "human" washes clothes or toilets or cooks their own food or even puts their own clothes away. Blands wait until humans have left for their "important" responsibilities to society and then come in through their own doors from grayspace and clean up unseen after the humans. They also prepare all of their food and some blands even serve as "personals"-like a butler, maid and assistant all in one. Tedla is attractive and intelligent and as such starts training as a personal. What Tedla uncovers is the complex social, sexual and personal relationship between an owner and ownee, including respect and love as well as pain and depravity. This social situation explores what power does to those that have it, whether they recognize it or not and not only what it does to those without power but as important the power structure created by those that have no power amongst themselves. Inevitably Tedla is sexually assaulted by the 'humans' (men and women) she is assigned to. Tedla is neutered and as such does not seem to have any sexual feelings but it can still love and hate. The abuse is horrible and compounded by the fact that Tedla can not even share its pain with any of its bland contemporaries because it is forbidden for humans to have sexual contact with a bland. In addition is considered distasteful and disgusting for a human to have sex with a bland. Gammadis social position on sex between humans and blands is of course that it NEVER happens and if it does is probably inititaed by the blands. Yet like most of societial taboos, occurring everywhere, participated in by most and ignored by everyone. The most interesting part of the book for me is how Tedla views itself. It feels it is not human as blands are considered little better than trained animals and not really considered more intelligent. Tedla never questions its place in Gammadian society nor feels itself mistreated until it comes into contact with a representative from the newly united old earth. Old Earth finds and contacts Gammada and sends a team of researchers to study Gammadian society and its drift from old earth society. Tedla is assigned as "personal" to a researcher who is part of the first contact team from old earth allowed onto Gammada. He is appalled at the treatment and classification of blands and attempts to teach Tedla some pride and at the same time study the role of a bland in Gammadian society. What follows is Tedla's characters growth from a bland into a human. With all of the guilt that goes along with stepping so completely out of the place society has made for you, whatever society that may be and whatever role you may play in it, to a place where you alone are the first to live this change. No one else like Tedla exists and to even exist as it is Tedla must leave home, Gammadis. Yet once away from Gammadis, Tedla gains a university education and has many interesting insights into human culture both Gammadian and old-earth. How much sexuality effects our everyday life, aspects of human culture that is rarely even examined. Its horror at constantly being related to as either male or female. People do not know how to treat or handle a neutered gender, even the word "it" carries derogatory connotations in reference to a person. Choosing, upon leaving Gammadis, not to have a sexual gender but to continue to be neuter. Its startling observation that blands exist in every society, that "blands" are in fact the fodder that allows the wheels of society to turn. Tedla comes to not be angry at what was done to it. To, in fact, see that it began with the best of intentions, as a way to control population.
The real weak point of the novel is the fact that the 'blands' don't have more resistance. The idea for blands as well ss the treatment (not human) is similar to US style chattel slavery. However enslaved person's were constantly resisting in big ways and small. They could only be held down with unspeakable acts of violence perpetrated regularly. Even with the brutality running and revolting consistently happened. With children not labeled as 'blands' until puberty this would be even harder to maintain realistically in a society.
My other concern is the perhaps transphobia implied in the handling of gender. I'm not transgender so that's not for me to label but this feels like a 90's view of gender.
The Gammadian solution to eco-friendly living fascinates me. I can see how it could have begun as a few simple steps to change so humans can live in harmony with their environment. I can even see how neuters were created, as a way to selectively control who procreates. At first I am sure blands were simply members of the population that were learning disabled and/or truly not fit for much more than manual labor and even that heavily supervised. Yet, as with many things that start out with the best of intentions, it went wrong from there. As the society grew and became more compled, there became a need for more and more blands. After all who was going to do the laundry and cook the meals and clean the rooms while the others were involved in the important business of running the world. Then, it became a reward for achievement or a status symbol to have a "personal" bland to see to all of your needs. Well, who wants an unattractive learning disabled neuter as their personal maid, butler and assistant? So, of course, more children were needed to become blands, whether they fit the original "bland" ideal or not. How can this problem be addressed, ever, when it is a societal standard to ignore the existance of blands all together? How often do societies ignore and not speak about or even develop taboos problems or solutions to problems that are not effecting the important or normal members of society? Yet, if Gammadians admit that this practice has gotten out of control, that blands are being mistreated, are in fact becoming slaves-what does that say about their advanced society? Gammadis is a near Utopia allowed to exist by the sacrifice of blands, eerily relevant to how we live as a "civilized" society today. How many on this planet go to bed every single night hungry and malnourished-how much food do I throw away a week? How many people on this planet are dehydrated or unable to grow crops or even maintain basic hygiene and how much water do I waste everyday while I brush my teeth and take 2 showers/baths a day?I have never read a book like this before. One of the main reasons I enjoy sci fi so much, good sci fi, is that it allows the reader to safely look at the failings of our present and past society-morals, values and equality. Sci fi allows us the opportunity to see from a view not clouded by gender, sexual preference, racial ethnicity, religious trappings or often even humanity, not triggering the readers own identification and therefore biased view of a group or class of people. With a fresh eye we are able to see and compare horrors from this fictional world and race of beings to our very real world and human beings. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to have an equal or equitable society? Is it possible to be truly advanced, civilized, enlightened and treat everyone fairly-will we ever have such a society? The world of the Gammadians almost reminds me of the idealistic world of Star Trek where people are honest and work to better themselves-not for personal gain. It also brings to mind where were the unseen "blands" of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek world? For the one thing Halfway Human taught me without a doubt is that the station that blands fill exist in all societies, even or should I say most especially ours. ( )
  LoisSusan | Dec 10, 2020 |
This paperback inspired me to spend most of Sunday in bed, curled up and warm. A good story about love and luck at least momentarily overcoming the obstacles of slavery and abuse. Space travel, information as commodity, xenology, gender issues, a beautiful world with an ugly back door. Not a bad Sunday afternoon treat. (February 03, 2004) ( )
  cindywho | May 27, 2019 |
a seminal study of the nature of gender, the use of eugenics, and how to define humanity, delivered through the eyes of isolated cultures in the far future - with appealing characters, and a passionate message. ( )
  macha | Jan 22, 2019 |
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Tedla is young, beautiful and blond but is neither he nor she. On a far-off world, an asexual class of blands exists to serve their fellow humans, protected and isolated from contact with the rest of the universe. But no bland has ever left its sheltered homeworld--until now. Tedla has been found in an alley light-years away from its planet. And it has just tried to commit suicide. Val, an expert in alien cultures, helps Tedla recuperate and in doing so, uncovers the secret tortured world of the blands.

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