Hwarhath Series by Eleanor Arnason

For half a century, Earth has been on the brink of total war with an implacable alien race. Biologist Anna Perez is the first to discover the truth – the hwarhath have segregated their society strictly along gender lines, to prevent the warlike males from harming women and children. In their eyes, humans are a dishonorable and barbaric race who may require extermination...

"Humanity has encountered only one other species able to travel among the stars. This species, who call themselves the hwarhath, or "people," are also the only intelligent species so far encountered. Of course, we interest and puzzle and disturb each other. "As far as can be determined, the stories in this collection were all written after the hwarhath learned enough about humanity to realize how similar (and different) we are... more"Humanity has encountered only one other species able to travel among the stars. This species, who call themselves the hwarhath, or "people," are also the only intelligent species so far encountered. Of course, we interest and puzzle and disturb each other. "As far as can be determined, the stories in this collection were all written after the hwarhath learned enough about humanity to realize how similar (and different) we are. Our existence has called into question many ideas about life and morality that most hwarhath would have called certain a century ago. less