Themes of sexual orientation in The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin approach an understandable utopia. A synopsis / review explains the ambiguous nature of The Telling, “The Telling tries to say a lot, and is not consistently successful in doing so… This idea is worked in as part of the dues ex machina that brings the story to the end, but does not push itself toward any conclusion beyond “Learning from the past is essential” (http://utopian-dystopian-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/review–the-telling-by-ursula-k-le-guin). Le Guin offers no citable solutions for how society in the year 
2000 and onwards could remove the negative effects of gendering. Le Guin uses the Unist Father as a vehicle for explaining destructive thinking, “Because God created women to be vessels for men’s semen. But after freedom we didn’t have to hide for fear of being sent to revival camps” (237). Yes! Really, that’s the worst thing I’ve ever read, fictional or not, about the role of women. Contrasting the overwhelmingly religious and patriarchic attitude towards women comes from the story of Shiva, “Because Sati is Shiva, and Shiva is Sati. You are the lover and the griever. You are the anger. You are the dance” (228). This message of equality and togetherness from Le Guin is utterly romantic, but she stops there. The Telling, being a fictional world, has (Great Song)the opportunity to at least idealize a setting where men and women are still men and women, but also exist in a way that does not see gender as a crutch or a disadvantage. Instead she uses a parable and then contrasts the parable with easy anti-religious pandering. Unless the reader is at church camp, or revival camp, how does her line of thought accelerate the human experience of togetherness? I agree with the author of this article: Le Guin, Ursula. The Telling. New York: Ace Books, 2000. ISBN: 0-441-01123-3, which is from the aforementioned web-site, The Telling has many great ideas without the substance to bring them into fruition.
