Gently Ai is from a different planet, where permanent gender and clear distinction between each is the norm. When he visits the planet winter, he is shocked to find that things are completely different. The people there don’t have a specific gender, they are all androgynous, until they go into Kemmer, meaning they turn into a specific gender to mate. Genly Ai struggles to wrap around his head around the concept, placing them in female and male “boxes”, rather than seeing them as neutrality. Ai finds this strange and difficult to comprehend. He also shows his struggle because he keeps referring to Estraven as “he” and “him” which is definitely not the case. He can’t let go of the norm of where he’s from. His permanent gender appears to the others from winter as perverted. Even the Kings ask him, ‘“So all of them, out on these other planets, are in permanent kemmer? A society of perverts?”’ (36). So it shows that they both think alike, unable to accept differences and be normal about it. This is a parallel to how attitudes are back in his world,  how people are still afraid of change and things that are different. Even though things aren’t scary, they are still feared because they’re different, rather than embracing and accepting uniqueness.