Winter is part of a parable, a metaphor and a myth. Winter itself is a metaphor, in a prfoundly moving book. In The Left Hand of Darkness, there are no men, no women, but only people. The humans of Winter are sexually neutral, until they enter the physiological state of "kemmer". When a Gethenian enters "kemmer", that person only then acquires a physical sexual identity, and only briefly.
What's the difference between masculine and feminine, as opposed to maleness and femaleness? How much is personality and how much is biology?
In one of his introductions, to one of the stories, Harlan defined "dangerous vision", as it related to the book(s). In order to be included in the collection, a story had to nibble "at the edge of your sense of reality."
Karhide is a country, where things are not always what they seem to be, on the surface. It is a place of subtlety, of shifgrethor, of loyalty, of humanity, of myth. Karhide is a vision that challenges your sense of reality, your assumptions, your sense of identity.
Question it. Re-examine everything. Or, better yet, make a trip to Gethen and re-examine yourself.