Aang and Korra, Subverting Gender Expectations
Beyond the usual parallels drawn between Korra and Aang as opposites, I wanted to discuss these characters and how each serves an important and rare purpose in N. American media: the subversion of gender norms.
I honestly think that Aang’s narrative is a gender subverting lesson on how crucial it is for young men to shirk expectations of masculinity, thereby shirking the intense and constant demands for often homocidal violence that our society places on boys and men.
Instead, forgiving and offering peace whenever possible, what Aang does is something you hardly ever see in popular media…
Perhaps even rarer, Korra’s narrative is a gender subverting lesson on how crucial it is for WOMEN to stand up for themselves, to DESTROY THE FUCKING PATRIARCHY, to express themselves, to dominate, and to never stop even after everyone tries to put you down or take you out…even after you face mind-altering challenges…
And Korra is NEVER SEXUALIZED and she’s queer and neuroatypical and
HOLY SHIT SHE IS SO IMPORTANT! NOT TO MENTION HER CULTURE AND HERITAGE AND RACE ARE ANALOGOUS TO FIRST NATIONS/NATIVE N. AMERICAN PEOPLE WTFFFFFFF
(And don’t for a second think that Aang being a Tibetan Buddhist-inspired pacifist isn’t also a huge deal for representation and positive portrayals just so we’re clear)
but yeah, their roles in American media and their significance for young American audiences is unspeakable yet also paralled in this way
