I asked if anyone had random questions for me, about me, outside of writing blind characters questions. Here are the questions I received.
Anonymous said:
My assumption is you are a constant contact cane girly
My answer:
You are correct!
Anonymous said:
How feasible is it to beat up a Sighted person with your white cane? Like, what are the stats for how well it would go depending on the type of cane and the range? Assuming the person was being an ass to you.
Answer:
My cane is not a weapon, but if I was being threatened, anything I had might suffice. A bag, keys, etc. This includes my cane. I would probably hold it across myself or outward in a protective hold. This might be enough to get someone to back off if they didn’t want trouble or attention. If I had to, I would fold my cane and use it to wack an attacker. This might do in a pinch, distracting them enough so that I could escape the situation or call for help. While folding the cane reduces my range of defense considerably, a folded cane is more sturdy than an unfolded cane. This is why I would only hit someone with my cane if they were somehow already cornering me. I would try not to be in a situation like that, but you can’t always access a situation fast enough, particularly since the likelihood of being attacked by a stranger is less than being attacked by someone I know.
@popcorn8784 said:
1. In different mediums, such as books, animation, or live action, do you notice any mediums that have a harder time or more unique methods of portraying blindness?
2. What are some of your favorite foods? (Bonus question: If you could try out a food from Avatar, which food would you pick?)
My answer:
To me, most unique portrayals of blindness usually come from animation. I guess you have a bit more variety in that medium. I also want to mention podcasts, because they are usually accessible for blind people and them involving blind characters allows for an interesting use of sounds to portray blindness that aren’t often used, such as cane taps.
As for mediums that have a harder time, I would say live-action, perhaps controversially. I believe I feel this way because live-action still uses sighted actors to play blind characters. I often get an uncomfortable or uncanny valley feeling while watching them.
My favorite foods include chocolate, potato soup, and pastas. As for foods from Avatar I want to eat, I would love to try the cakes that Aang and Master Gyatso make. So colorful and fluffy!
Anonymous said:
waffles or pancakes??
Answer:
Why not both?
Anonymous said:
Gay
Answer:
Yes.
Anonymous said:
Who are your favorite YouTubers? Blind related or otherwise
Answer:
Favorite blind YouTubers are probably Molly Burke and Alisha B.
Favorite YouTubers in general are Oh No Nina, Sharla, and Darling Desi.
Two people also asked who my favorite blind character is. Of course, my favorite blind character is Toph!
This was fun. Thank you for the questions. Maybe I will do this again sometime.
Do you have any recommendations for blogs similar to yours?
Hi! As far as I’m aware, there aren’t any blogs exactly like ours, that focus on a range of disabilities. However, there are personal advocacy blogs that do sometimes respond to writing questions!
@blindbeta is, as suggested, a blind beta reader who has a ton of great posts on blind characters and representation, in addition to sensitivity reading in return for donations to charity!
@a-little-revolution is a blog dedicated to dwarfism advocacy and visibility, and has recently made posts specifically discussing representation in media. Their blog is absolutely worth a read on the full variety of topics they cover.
@so-over-ableism has also answered at least a few questions on writing disabled characters!
Additionally, this blog got its start because of the great resources offered by @writingwithcolor :) [smiling emoticon].
Please feel free to add on any blogs I’m not yet aware of!
Hello! I'm new to tumblr and newer to image descriptions. I was wondering it it was better to use tumblr's "Add Image Description" feature or to add the ID under the picture?
I personally prefer typing them under the page for a few reasons. There is a word limit to the "Add Image Description" feature, so if it's a screenshot of text for example, you'll easily run out of room.
There are a lot of benefits to having obvious, visible to everyone, hard to miss image descriptions.
One, it normalizes image descriptions for sighted people. Its very visibility has led to people sending me asks to learn more, so now more people write descriptions.
Two, a lot of tumblr users don't use screen readers but do write image descriptions, myself included, so it is likely you'll have your already described images described a second time.
Three, there are a lot of tumblr users who read the image description version by sight instead of reading the blurred, pixilated screenshots of twitter threads, tumblr posts, etc. Also including myself. It also helps if the photo won't load.
Four, some people are more likely to reblog a post that already has image descriptions.
If you reblog someone else's post and add image descriptions, put the description in the first line of your reblog, that way it will show up in the notes if someone else is looking for an image description. Here's the post where I originally said this.
One of my friends responded to this post with some good advice for image description
Other friend of mine got a similar ask and I love all their advice when it comes to accessibility, blindness, and writing blind characters @blindbeta
They received a similar ask about this question and this was their answer
I hope that helps. I wanted to give you multiple opinions if possible
I heard a rumor that @blindbeta was having a tough time not too long ago, which is UNACCEPTABLE because they are a delightful human being. So here’s a plug for them in general and also more specifically for their work as a sensitivity reader.
I hadn’t worked with a sensitivity reader before, so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was someone extremely knowledgeable and patient and kind, with remarkably fast turnaround and great communication.
If you need some basic tips on writing blind characters, you can check out their blog, where they’ve got loads of useful info. But if you want some specific feedback on your work, I definitely recommend getting a sensitivity read.
TL;DR: Bee is lovely and should not be allowed to have bad days; please go check out their extremely useful blog and also consider hiring them if you’re writing blind characters.
Ok i don’t know if you’re doing asks right now but I’d honestly like to ask about a character in a murder mystery/fantasy story I have and I’m not sure if they align with any negative blind stereotypes or if it’s something I should avoid altogether even if it’s not a stereotype.
To start, my character (let’s call him B) has JOAG (juvenile open angle glaucoma) and has tunnel vision. He also relies on a cane and braille. He also takes medication for his condition ( I was thinking carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or beta blockers but I still need to dig deeper into that.)
I was thinking of having a blind main character (and blind side characters too). He has a tsundere/ojo-sama personality (rude on the outside, sweet on the inside type of guy) and water powers. I know that there is a bit of a pattern with rude or defensive blind characters and I feel unsure about whether or not I should add that into my story. I thought of him being apprehensive of one of the other main characters because he doesn’t know them personally and isn’t a huge fan of change. He slowly warms up to the other character but he struggles to do so. He helps the rest of the other characters in solving the mysteries and tries to think as logically as he can but sometimes his bias slips in every now and then.
Onto his powers, I was thinking of him having the ability to control water. I was also think about having him have an interest in potion-making and his spell books being written in mostly braille because he relays on braille the most.
He has a few hobbies and interests such as going on picnics, siren singing/just singing in general, drinking tea and organizing his stuff. (Apologies if this is a lot, I love rambling about my characters lol).
That’s all I have for this character at the moment. I hope nothing in this ask was offensive or anything. You don’t have to answer this if something in this post came off as rude or offensive. Thank you for your time!!!
Avoiding Rude or Defensive Blind Characters— Explore It and Add More Blind Characters to Show Different Personalities
It sounds like everything is in order right now. The only concern I have is addressing the rude/defensive thing you brought up.
I’ll admit, I actually enjoy this type of blind character. It falls a bit into Disabled Snarker trope, which I love. I feel these characters tend to be viewed as having more agency than blind people are typically believed to possess.
It also allows us a bit of fantasy escapism.
Typically, blind people aren’t allowed to express the level of snark that these characters are. This is because we are expected to lack desires of our own, be excessively passive, and to not complain even when we are wronged. An example of this would be blind people being told they did something incorrectly when they are denied services, or were ungrateful when refuse help they don’t need.
Here is a video where Sadi on Tiktok laments her rideshare troubles caused by bigoted drivers. Link here.
Here is one where she discusses being grabbed by a stranger. Link here. And another where she expresses her frustration with the dismissal she faces when she speaks about being treated inappropriately. Link here.
Here is one by Tobes, who describes accidentally running into cars that are parked on the sidewalk and being scolded for it despite that fact he had no reason to believe a car would be parked that way. Link here.
We are often considered rude because of ableism. Additionally, we often have to be stern and stubborn just to get through the day and this can be perceived as rude by others.
You could have him use this attitude in areas other than blindness or only when provoked in an obvious way. Having a cool attitude that others find intimidating or unapproachable might be a way to go about this.
Or he could still put someone in their place for being ableist and this actually might be a refreshing fantasy for a lot us who can’t always call out ableism the way we want to. To me, people are going to think blind people are rude no matter what we do. This means most of us, especially those of us marginalized in multiple ways, are forced to police our tone or reactions in frustrating ways, even when someone is being harmful toward us or openly oppressive.
Sometimes it’s fun to see a blind character who responds in a way that is proportional to the ableism being directed at them.
I am not sure if you can go against this stereotype one your own, because again, some people will see blind people as rude no matter what. This is in direct opposition to the idea that blind people are all innocent beings without agency. These two opposing stereotypes of blind people are very strong and I know from experience that it is difficult not to be put into one of these boxes. He may deliberately display an aggressive attitude in an attempt to gain some agency over how he is perceived. Conversely, he might be defensive or rude about everything, while being chill about blindness stuff or even ableist attitudes. Instead, he could become colder, distant, or emotionally cut the ableist person off. He could also be like Toph and react to personal or structural ableism with jokes.
Basically, it’s good to be concerned about this, but I think commenting on/exploring it would be a better option. Subverting the trope is also challenging because it might accidentally cause him to be put into another box. Therefore, it might be more helpful to explore it for him personally, giving him more depth and challenging the idea that all blind people are naturally rude for “no reason. [Quotes around “no reason” to indicate sarcasm.]
Personally, I want to see blind characters having agency, depth, a community, and using mobility aids and blindness techniques. So I’m okay with this. The story might still benefit from a sensitivity reader or two though, and I’d love to read it myself. You can also try @sensitivityreaders
Lastly, having other blind characters would help challenge any stereotypes readers might have. In addition to showing his sweet side mentioned in the ask. Sorry I couldn’t give you a yes or no answer on this topic, but my personal go-to fix for stereotypes is always to show more blind characters. This allows you to show off more personality types of experiences around blindness.
Also JOAG can be painful if not caught early or managed properly. You seem to have done a good job of showing treatment options and different conditions. There will be a lot of medical stuff in his future/present, which means he has experience advocating for himself. This could also help explain why his attitude might seem rude or defensive to abled characters, in addition to the Rude Blind Person stereotype.
If any other blind or disabled folks have thoughts or suggestions, please share.
In closing, I don’t have any concerns with his powers. Also points for cane use!
Some parts of this ask might be relevant as well. Link here.
Writing Blind Characters: Sensitivity Reading And Other Info - A Big Pinned Post
Hi! I wanted to make a pinned post with links to notable posts on my blog. I know my blog may be hard to scroll through because some posts are pretty long.
Introduction:
Call me Bee. I’m a blind/low vision person who uses they/them pronouns. I am over 18. My love for reading, writing, and editing drew me to create a blog like this, along with a desire to see more blind characters in accessible stories. This lead to me becoming a sensitivity reader for blind characters.
I like reading fantasy, romance, books with lgbt+ characters, and action stories. I also love literary stories. I will also read fanfiction, scripts, image descriptions, etc.
I provide sensitivity reading in exchange for donations. If you’re interested, here are my current rates. I charge rates to reflect the work that goes into sensitivity reading.
Before requesting a reading, check my availability.
I also answer questions for free!
Here is my main blog, my WordPress blog.
Here is my Instagram.
Here is my Throne account.
Here is my YouTube channel.
Tagging Information.
You can find a post I made here and input from followers.
Before You Ask:
These posts may be helpful for some of the more common questions, or may help you plan out your story so that you don’t have to fix it later on. Reading these posts may also help you develop richer, more detailed questions.
1. Things To Include or Avoid
Things I Want to See More of/Less of in Blind Characters
A post I wrote about myths that harm blind people (which you will want to avoid in your writing)
[Not by BlindBeta] - An article on misconceptions about blind people
A post about if blind people face who is talking, move their eyes, or try to make eye contact
A post on giving blind characters canes, guide animals, or other mobility aids, as well as how to choose one
Here is a thread that might help readers get an idea of what ableism is like. It includes a post why hiring blind actors is important, two responses that having ableist ideas including viewing blind people as burdens in employment, and a few responses from blind people, including myself. Here is the post.
Here is a post on ableist assumptions when asking questions and making jokes and how to avoid this. Here is the post.
A resource post for everyday ableism
A thread on Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, and my addition, plus a video link to more information. This deals with erasure and distortion of history. Here is the link.
Writing Blind Characters Accepting Being Blind — When You Aren’t Blind Yourself. A post on why I don’t want to see this type of story, especially because this is also often a result of the trope about going blind through accidents / incidents / trauma. You can read it here.
An ask about characters who were already blind going through eye trauma and possibly losing their eyes - making the accidents / incidents / trauma narrative better
Trope Discussion- The Blind Prophet / Blind Seer - A post where I discuss this trope and problems I usually find with it, as well as how to avoid these problems if you want to use this trope.
Trope Discussion- Blind Characters Covering Their Eyes
Trope Discussion - Tokenism/Having Only One Blind Character
Trope Discussion - Blind Characters Feeling Faces
An ask that includes using a cane as a weapon.
A review of Blind by Rachel DeWoskin and why sensitivity readers are important
Common problems I come across when betaing.
A post on the spectrum of blindness
[Not by BlindBeta] A post by @askablindperson with practical advice on how to respectfully and efficiently help blind people. Helpful for real life situations and for writing characters. Read it here.
2. Accessibility
A relevant blog that be helpful is @accessibleaesthetics
Here is my long post about making your specific content accessible for blind people (a general overview with different types of content)
An ask about writing tags, including information about whether to include hashtags, lowercase letter, capital letters, emojis, and emotions.
And a post containing information about one way to add audio description to YouTube videos
And an ask with tips for making descriptions
An ask about where to put image descriptions
A helpful ask about adding ALT text to tumblr GIFs and pictures!
It also contains ideas about when to use ALT text or an image description.
An ask about adding image descriptions to many images (incorrect quotes, specifically at once), with demonstration by @mimzy-writing-online
An ask about sci-fi names and screen-readers, plus an excellent reblog with tips by @mightyoctopus.
A thorough master-post about different types of writing image descriptions on tumblr!
A list of symbols screenreaders will read.
An ask about much detail to include in image descriptions plus a helpful reblog post. Spoiler: include detail according to the focus of the post. Include most relevant details first.
[Not by BlindBeta] A helpful post on image descriptions titled ‘More Detail Isn’t Always Better’. Read here to learn more about how relevancy matters when deciding how much detail to include.
[Not by BlindBeta] Another post on making your art accessible
[Not by BlindBeta] Another excellent post about the importance of relevancy when considering what to include in image descriptions. This time, it details why more detail is sometimes better. It all depends on what is being described.
For writing multiple blind characters:
Here is my post on stories with only one blind character.
Here is a post wherein I guide a writer in creating multiple blind characters using an alternative universe I made up where most of the main characters in The Owl House show are reimagined as blind.
Here is a question about writing multiple blind characters in short stories. In this post, I challenge the idea that writing multiple blind characters is unrealistic.
Here is a post about O&M and a reblog from someone else emphasizing the importance of giving blind characters a community.
For comics, games, and drawing blind characters:
Read here about ideas for making games and visual novel games accessible through audio description and large print.
Read about image descriptions, alt-text, and audio transcripts for comics plus more relevant links.
A question about where to describe characters in image descriptions for comics
Read here about under what circumstances blind characters should be drawn with noticeably different eyes and alternative ways to explore blindness through art.
Read here for more tips for drawing blind characters.
3. Blind/Low Vision Person Reviews Blind Characters Series
Toph Beifong in The Blind Bandit episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender
Blind by Rachel DeWoskin
Garret in Quest For Camelot movie (1998)
4. Other Asks That May Be Helpful
Here is an ask about guide animals and creating your own fantasy guide animal
It contains information about guide dogs, guide horses, emotional support animals, links about choosing between a cane and guide dog, and some qualities a guide animal should have. Note that I am not a guide user myself. This is simply a starting place.
A post on echolocation.
An ask about writing in Braille.
[Not by BlindBeta] Here is an article from the above link about how Braille works.
[Not by BlindBeta] And another link taken from my post on writing in Braille with more information on tools used to write Braille.
[Not by BlindBeta] And here is a post on Braille literacy and why Braille is not obsolete now that there are audiobooks
My thoughts on giving blind characters powers.
This is specifically about sense-based powers and echolocation.
Some thoughts of blind characters going blind through accidents.
Another post that covers possible accident- / incident- related blindness and avoiding tokenism. It may not all be applicable to the asker’s story, but I tried to cover everything I could think of to help, just in case.
A more in-depth explanation of what I mean by “going blind through trauma”, aka more of the trauma- / accident- / incident-based blindness. Link here.
An ask about portraying eye conditions before they had names.
An ask about things to keep in mind when writing about blind spots or central vision loss.
An ask about naming assistive technology/ devices before they were invented.
An ask on writing disabled characters with ableist myths/legends. And a follow-up.
An ask on blind characters and clothes
An ask about assistive devices: telescopes.
An ask that touches on having clairvoyant blind characters. (Spoiler, this is a trope and avoiding tokenism is especially important here.)
An ask on going blind from light magic, temporary cure, and describing blind eyes as unfocused. Read here.
A post that discusses temporary cures and why the cure trope is a problem.
A post with a brief history of Braille and raised print. Plus a helpful reblog on characters knowing Braille vs print letters by @askablindperson
Tips for Roleplaying Blind Characters
An ask on blind characters in video games and D&D and my advice on both accessibility and a reminder that blind characters have strengths too. Read it here.
An ask on writing abled characters who are afraid of losing vision without being ableist
An ask about making houses accessible for blind characters
An ask about writing blind characters in fights and possibly losing sight after injuries
Read about Legal Blindness here with links to legally blind YouTubers.
A post with some ideas for options when writing or drawing blind characters who also use support canes. I don’t use a support cane myself and so these are ideas based on research with links included.
A post by @cripplecharacters for going up and down stairs while using canes. Read it here. I also wanted to include links to videos. Here is Lucy Edward’s video. Here is video by Can See Can’t See about finding stairs outside, in which she descends concrete stairs.
5. Posts About Toph From A:TLA
A collection of posts about writing Toph Beifong that might help writers.
My review of The Blind Bandit.
A post about a popular fanfic trope and myths about blind people’s eyes. Also my own personal issues with some ableism in the Avatar fandom. Read the post here.
A post on why avoiding tokenism is important even when you have a well-liked blind character.
6. Other Helpful Blogs
I wanted to provide some other sources. While I am happy to take questions, I am not the only blind person here. Community is important and in the interest of supporting that community and reiterating that to non-blind followers, I wanted to include other blind blogs/disability blogs. Feel free to send questions to any number of us. We may even reblog each other’s posts to add ideas and different experiences. This will offer richer, more nuanced knowledge for you to draw from. If you wish, you can send me a private message and I can also contact other blogs for you with your questions.
Here is a blog that takes questions for disabilities and similar topics in general: @cripplecharacters
Here is a blog by a blind writer who also takes questions about writing blind characters: @mimzy-writing-online
And here is another blog by a blind person who answers questions: @ps-im-blind
And another helpful blog on accessibility and blindness issues: @askablindperson
Also, while I am currently the only blog specific to sensitivity reading for blind characters, here is a blog that can help you find sensitivity readers for your characters who have multiple marginalized identities. Feel free to check out the other blind sensitivity readers by searching “Blind” in the search bar. I think it is good to have a few readers, if they are available to you.
Here is the blog: @sensitivityreaders
How Should You Contact Me?
Asks (anonymous or otherwise) are fine. I also respond to private asks.
Private Messages are fine as well.
More Information About Sensitivity Reading Services:
After you have read the linked posts, you can clear up any residual confusion and obtain needed clarification with me via message or ask.
Send me a message with your request. Please include:
1. The word or page count of your project
2. A bit about the project itself, such as if it’s a book or a script, what it’s about, etc
3. If the blind character is a main or supporting character and if you want a full or partial read
4. Any concerns you may have or specific sections you want me to pay special attention to.
5. Any deadlines you may have.
From there, we will work out rates, proof of donation, and the logistics of the reading itself, such as providing my suggestions.
Do I Have a Ko-Fi or Other Way to Give Personal Donations?
As of now, no I do not. However, instead you can:
- Send a nice ask
- Make a small donation to the links on my Rates page
-Contribute to my Throne account iced coffee fund
- Share any of my posts
If there is anything I can do to make this blog more accessible for others, let me know. Feel free to send any questions you may have. Thank you for reading and sharing my posts!
Follow me here. I will be posting bite-sized advice for writers and general information about blindness with colorful backdrops and text. You can also read my image descriptions. It will be the same content as my blogs, but easier to read for those with concentration difficulties or those who don’t like or need as much detail.
Blind/Visually Impaired Person’s Review Of ‘The Blind Bandit’
It is here! At almost 6 thousand words (I have a problem lol). This is a review of season 2, episode 6 in Avatar: the Last Airbender. The episode is called The Blind Bandit.
Note that this is only a review of the portrayal of blindness rather than the episode or show itself. This show also has audio descriptions on Netflix so any blind followers of mine can watch the show if the want to. I would also like to make it clear that this is my opinion. It is my no means lacking in bias and I won’t pretend that it is. I love this character for some of the reasons I will explain here, and that will show even as I consider criticisms of her or things that simply could have been better.
This character, Toph, was my first exposure to a blind character in television.
CHARACTER INTRO:
“Your champion, The Blind Bandit!”
We first hear Toph introduced as The Blind Bandit. She is described as having pale eyes which is usually how eye conditions are conveyed visually. Some online sources describe them as light grey or sea form green, but glazed over. This could be due to cataracts or some other deterioration. Part of me wants to mention that not all blind people have eyes like this. Most don’t; I don’t. However, blind people can have many eye problems outside of just The Blindness, so it isn’t inaccurate either, especially for a time period where eye surgeries are not available, and Waterbenders are not as easy to reach for healings as they may have been before the war. I also suspect her family would not care about cataracts if Toph was not in pain— their main issue would be her blindness. I’m getting ahead of myself.
The point is, I don’t mind the way her eyes are portrayed here. I do think non-blind people are too obsessed with portraying eyes like this, however, and I feel like it is not necessary in non-visual media unless you have established why their eyes are cloudy/lighter/Like That other than Because Blind. I’m happy they didn’t fall into the trap of portraying her eyes as constantly closed.
I also read somewhere that the creators tried not to move her eyes much. I don’t know how true this goal was, but I feel it is not entirely necessary. Blind people can also have uncontrollable eye movements or rapid eye movements. This might be too hard to animate and too confusing for viewers. Therefore, I feel the creators chose a more practical portrayal of eye movements that is the easiest to animate and least confusing for people who may not know blind eyes can and do move, whether due a condition or other factors.
“She can’t really be blind, can she?”
I like that everyone says “blind” without stumbling over it or treating it as a bad word. Katara is surprised and Aang is accepting, feeling hopeful that this girl could at last be his teacher. I even like that she chose to capitalize on it for her persona. Already we can tell Toph has no issue with being blind, nor does she feel the need to hide it in such a setting as this. She is already the champion— it must be working for her. It is this openness and acceptance of blindness that I like, especially from the main character. Rather than make her hide her blindness or angst over something she has lived with all her life, the writers just introduced it as fact. She’s blind and she’s a champion. That is how we meet Toph.
“Sounds to me like you’re scared, Boulder!”
Trash talk. She’s trash talking him. If the champion thing was not an indication that this wasn’t your stereotypical innocent, blind flower, her first line should be! Already Toph is brash and fearless. A far cry from the angelic stereotype we often get in the media.
“Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!”
Toph kicks Boulder Butt. Pretty easily. I loved every second of it.
Now let’s talk about the Super Crip trope here.
IS TOPH A SUPERCRIP?
The Supercrip trope is a bit hard to pin down. I found a few definitions floating around. This link has two: Trope: SuperCrip | #CriticalAxis: a community driven project from The Disabled List
The Supercrip is seen as having “overcome” their disability in order to do normal things or even extraordinary things— with a focus on their disability rather than their accomplishments.
The first part is avoided. The narrative doesn’t focus on how extra special it is that Toph is doing things like: walking, talking, eating soup, sitting with her family, yelling at Aang and his friends, etc. Toph is not seen as extra special for doing normal things that her disability does not make more difficult. Not only would this be patronizing and ignorant, this would reflect that attitudes many real life strangers have: disabled people are so strange and mystical to some people that they feel the need to ask blind people on the street how they walk or talk.
Personally, I find this portrayal of disabled people to be the most harmful. It caters to able-bodied onlookers alone and offers nothing for disabled people. To clarify: the problem is not portraying disabled people/characters doing normal things! The problem is expecting your audience to feel inspired because a disabled person did a thing that is completely ordinary for them.
This does not apply to Toph.
Another definition is that a disabled person is portrayed as “overcoming” their disability in order to do something cool/big, usually something able-bodied people don’t do everyday. This disabled person is only noteworthy because they did something extraordinary such as win several gold medals. This presents two problems: 1) it is hard for disabled people to meet these expectations, especially when this is shown as the only positive way to live with a disability. And 2) able-bodied people see this and believe all disabled people must be winning gold medals or doing super extraordinary things because their disability somehow gives them privilege, pity-points, or superhuman powers that make up for their disability. An example of these powers would be the myth that blind people have superhuman hearing rather than simply using their hearing more than sighted people and thus being more attuned to sound. An example of pity-points would be the time my family was watching Dancing With the Stars featuring a blind contestant. After the dance, someone remarked that the contestant would probably get sympathy points and go on to the next round. Her talent was not a factor the same way it was for the able-bodied contestants; pity-points could not be separated from her success. It was impossible that she would be supported and judged the same way as the others, with her blindness being only an extra factor that might make copying a dance to learn it more challenging for her. Keep in mind, these ideas are so ingrained in people that my own family believed it in even when they know me and several of my blind friends.
Let’s consider Tooh:
Pity-Points?
- Not even a factor. This was not brought up by Aang, nor Katara, nor Sokka. It was certainly not thought of by the owner of the battle ring nor Toph’s opponents. In fact, she was only doubted when she lost. Her talent was never viewed as the result of someone else’s pity or reduced to inspiration for an able-bodied wrestling audience. The announcer says her name and nothing else. Her parents don’t bring up the idea that Toph only wins because she was pitied either. They witnessed her bending and only believed they needed to protect her more, not that she was not talented.
Privilege?
- It is no question that Tooh’s family is rich. It is hard to say how much that affects her here. She has a tutor who undermines her growth and is pretty much useless. She has protection she doesn’t want and riches she doesn’t seem to use. She does have more free time to battle as a result of her riches, not having to work at a young age (although her parents probably would not have let her even if they needed the money). Toph’s family status could have been seen as playing a role in her winning— if her parents allowed the world to know about her.
- It is no secret that Toph is rich, however, when privilege is brought up by able-bodied people, they don’t usually mean riches (although the stereotypical rich disabled person is something I could discuss at a later time). They usually mean some combination of government benefits that may or may not exist and pity points. Disability makes things HARDER, not easier. A person can have multiple privileges they did not earn, or lack of privileges they did not ask for. Toph does not gain special privileges due to her disability, nor does she ask for or expect them. My opinion is that no one asks for this, anyway.
Super-human?
- This one is a little trickier. It is the one people are obviously hung up on when they consider Toph. It is difficult to consider this without considering Toph’s entire arc. However, I have chosen to focus on her bending and “sight” and how it is used in this episode. I may talk about this more if I do other reviews. - First, bending. Toph is not the only bender in the series. She is also not the only good bender, as Katara is also someone who grows into her bending and becomes particularly powerful. Aang is already a master of airbending in addition to being the Avatar. He is special and particularly powerful, mastering water quickly. Azula is also said to be a prodigy and has mastered lightning at 14. The point is, Toph is a powerful bender. She is not the only powerful bender in the world. The Avatar needs someone to teach him and that person would, reasonably, have mastered their bending in order to teach the Avatar. - Now for Toph’s bending in relation to her blindness. It is true that Toph is powerful AND blind— is she powerful in spite of being blind? Is she powerful because her blindness gives her superpowers? This is tricky. To me, the narrative doesn’t go out of its way to say “she overcame her blindness and was able to win”. It also doesn’t show blindness as a superpower, such as causing superior hearing. - How is it portrayed then? First, Toph never has to “overcome” her blindness, which is important. The obstacle is the limitations placed on her. The obstacle is society, not her disability. Toph does not need to accept her blindness before doing anything, because she has been blind since birth. She does not have to overcome her blindness before fighting or becoming a champion because when we are introduced to her, she already was. She is not expected to overcome her disability in order to teach Aang; he tries to recruit her without seeing her disability as an issue. She does not need overcome her disability because it is not what stops her, as is the case for most people. There are some things being blind makes difficult, different, or impossible to do, but this isn’t one of them. Blind people can learn to fight. They can win. And when people reduce such accomplishments as “overcoming disability”, it can feel like a misdirection, like a dismissal of hard work and talent.
This does not happen with Toph.
Second, does Toph’s blindness give her superpowers? Maybe. I feel like it might be necessary to cover Toph in other episodes. However, this review is focusing mostly on The Blind Bandit and so I will focus on Toph’s unique “sight”. Toph’s bending is unique from others because she can feel the vibrations in the ground, allowing her to sense objects and people. This ability allows her to fight and beat others. In my opinion, this is more of an adaptation perfected through sheer amount of practice. Katara and Zuko don’t always bend. Toph is using her bending constantly. Of course she would be good at it. Her bending is a tool for her use. Fighting? That’s just a bonus, a hobby.
Toph also has weaknesses and is in fact beaten by Aang, who wasn’t even trying. Losing to someone who had no intention of winning is a pretty big deal.
Personally, I don’t think Toph is a supercrip in this episode. She is a Blind Seer, a trope popular in literature. The Blind Seer can’t see physically, but they can see in other ways you can’t. I don’t have an issue with this trope and think it can be used in cool ways, especially if the blind character isn’t the only one with a superpower.
I do, however, want people to question why a blind character always needs to have a power that relates to or makes up for their lack of sight in some way. Unless you are making a deliberate allusion to something or a blind is not the only one with sight-related powers, I ask writers to question why they jump to sight-related powers in the first place. Or powers related to hearing, something to “make up for” their lack of sight.
Can this be done well? Absolutely. Toph, while she can fall into both The Blind Seer and the Supercrip tropes for some people, she is beloved and interesting for many fans, blind or sighted.
I ask people to trace their logic about why they choose to give their blind character powers related to sight. What kind of power is it? Does it make up for (aka erase) their blindness and make them less relatable to blind readers/watchers? Are they the only blind character and/or the only person with such a power? Can they have another power? What works and does not work for good characters like Toph? Why?
Getting rid of these particular tropes are not the answer. I simply invite people to consider other options, try new things, think critically about why and what woks or doesn’t work in other characters.
I absolutely invite blind writers to use whatever tropes they want, as they can probably write it in a more nuanced way.
My personal opinion about the Supercrip trope is that it is somehow focused on success or talent as the enemy without recognizing what it means. Wanting to succeed is not wrong. Being competitive is refreshing!
It isn’t really about doing super things or not— it is about disabled people being made to feel like they will not be successful, accepted, or taken seriously if they do not win everything or succeed at impossible feats. Able-bodied people are permitted to exist without needing to prove anything. Disabled people are not afforded that respect.
Either disabled people fight against the ingrained expectation that they simply cannot do anything, that will FAIL, because of their disability, or they fight against the realization that, for many people, even impossible feats will never be enough. Their accomplishments will never be seen as just that— accomplishments.
Blind characters should be talented or hard-working, prodigies or people who claw their way to the top. Their disability may be an obstacle and it may, in fact, barely even be necessary to mention aside from adaptive tools. The Supercrip is so alluring because people are under the impression blind people— and disabled people as a whole— cannot do anything. To the point that some condescendingly assume certain things are impossible because they did not think of adaptive techniques or technology. This is why research is important.
Remember why this trope/stereotype exists: for the inspiration of able-bodied people who are uninterested in making changes in society’s attitudes and the amount of accessibility it provides. Problematic tropes like this usually have a specific issue behind them and you cannot tackle or discuss r subvert the trope until you understand the harmful reason it exists.
Not everyone agrees with me. Here are some reading materials:
Challenging the ‘Supercrip’ Stereotype of People With Disabilities | The Mighty
[In the comments, I would prefer people not speculate about Toph being a Supercrip or not if they aren’t blind themselves. It would be more helpful to focus on other aspects of this review or share posts by other blind people instead.]
Keep in mind, this is only a review of one episode. And I personally will take a powerful disabled character over a powerless, sad one anytime.
This concludes our commercial break. Back to the show.
BEING BLIND IN EARTH KINGDOM SOCIETY
Earth Kingdom Boy 1: “Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family. They’re the richest people in town. Probably whole world.” Earth Kingdom Boy 2: “Yeah, but they don’t have a daughter.”
Now this is interesting. It implies that Toph is: a) hiding herself well so as to keep up her double life and/or b) being hidden by her family. I suspect it is a little of both. A) is pretty obvious, especially with the wall surrounding their estate, while b) could be due to overprotectiveness or shame on the part of her parents. Shame may seem harsh. However, this is not exactly a modern time period and respect for disabled people can vary depending on culture, time, place, and individual attitudes.
When portraying poor social attitudes toward disabled characters, writers must work hard to show the attitudes as wrong and work to reduce them. I do feel that, like with gender discrimination, people tend to preemptively assume accepting disability is modern and Western concept- and that any ableism is fair game because it is realistic. That is far from the truth, especially if they get it wrong.
Too much and it could be mistaken for an excuse to be ableist. Too little and it may seem like erasure of societal barriers faced by blind people.
Let’s see how the ATLA writers handle this.
TOPH’S “SIGHT” AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
Anyway, the Gaang finds Toph again. Toph: “What are doing here, Twinkle Toes?” Aang: “How did you know it was me?”
Two things stick out here. I love that The Gaang interacts with her normally and this episode is not about the able-bodied characters learning how to treat a disabled person like a person, nor is it about them confronting their biases. Instead, they have a favor to ask, one that Toph cannot grant. The episode shifts focus onto Toph and her emotions and needs.
I also liked that Aang asks how she knew it was him. This is a common question and it seems to be asked in curiosity rather than implied judgment or suspicion on Aang’s part, as is often the case nowadays. Later in the episode, Toph explains how she knew, but she could also have recognized his footsteps (light as they are) with or without her bending. Blind people are also usually more reliant on hearing or smell and so may pick up on scents or sounds others do not. That is not to say their hearing or smell are superior (see the Supercrip discussion), but that they are used more often. This is how I conceptualize Toph’s bending— it is something she uses all day, every day. Like her hearing and smell and touch, she is more reliant on these senses and so uses them in ways others don’t.
I do wish we had a few more examples of this in the episode/show rather than Toph using her bending for every situation. As I said, I do not mind that she can “see” with bending as it is not true sight, but showing how she uses other senses would have been nice details.
TOPH’S PARENTS HAVE ENTERED THE RING
Toph: “I thought I heard something! I got scared.” Guard: “You know your father doesn’t want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph.”
With this, we can understand her father is overprotective, so much so that Toph is able to believably pull off this act of helplessness in front of the guards. Her father does not believe even walking around her own home is safe for her.
With that in mind, it is NOT a plot hole that she can walk around her home in front of her parents. Even overprotected blind kids don’t use canes or need a guide within their own homes as they often memorize the layout. Canes are not usually used inside ones own home or very familiar areas. Outside areas might be an exception as they are likely to change due to nature or redesign, but generally familiar, casual areas do not warrant canes or guides. It is completely believable that Toph can walk around in her own home without causing suspicion.
Toph’s father, indicating soup placed in front of her: “Blow on it. It’s too hot for her.”
Not only is her father overprotective, he is infantilizing. He thinks she can’t blow on her own soup and must be confined to basic stances of bending, something Toph is clearly unhappy with. Toph’s parents are the kind of people who wouldn’t let her watch TV lol!
Toph’s father: “And sadly, because of her blindness, I don’t think she will ever become a true master.”
There it is. There are many people in the world who have this mindset, believing disabled people succeeding is unrealistic, or only achieved by pity-driven intervention from others for inspirational purposes or a lie told by overly soft parenting. Toph’s father may seem radical, but his views are very common even for those close to a blind person. Even for those who might like the inspirational stories about blind people doing things.
HOW TOPH SEES THE WORLD
Toph: “It’s kind of like seeing with my feet.”
This is where I disagree with some interpretations of Toph. She can sense where things are and what they are. She has a wider range than someone with a cane would. However, I don’t know if this is quite erasing her blindness. Could they have done better? Yes. However, to claim the show made her sighted with magic is not quite fitting to me. Toph is not seeing with a magical potion, nor did Katara heal her blindness. She is using a power a lot of people in the ATLA universe have in bending, one she has used her entire life and perfected through sheer number of practice hours. I think it helps that she did not get this power, narratively, because she was blind. Rather she is a blind person who adapted a skill to her use.
A cane or an animal guide might have helped make the narrative more relatable for blind people, however. They could have also played up being unable to see people’s facial expressions. In other episodes, they show areas where she is unable to bend, such as on ice, sand, or floating objects like the warship or Appa.
In these instances, they could have shown sighted guide.
However, I think what they did worked. Would I suggest anyone else try it? Maybe not. It depends on their motivation for doing it. Toph’s powers basically act as a cane or Sunnu band would. They aren’t a magic spell letting her see all the time.
They could have done a little better— I still think it worked. It does not seem to have unfortunate implications of sight being better than blindness or blindness needing special cures.
For writing purposes, it is important to understand why this worked, how it was portrayed, factor in that bending is not unique to Toph, understand the nature of her ‘sight’, and understand what they could have done better. Just because it works here doesn’t mean it will work everywhere. It is important for writers to understand that and question their motivation for giving their character a different kind of vision.
THE DISABILITY EPISODE - AVOIDED
Toph’s father: “My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you.” Toph: “Yes. I can.”
Some may feel uncomfortable that Toph’s first episode is about her parents doubting her, dealing with ableism and being forced into stereotypes by her own family. It is important to remember that this is a show for children and any blind children watching it will have dealt with similar issues from adults in their lives. The show doesn’t seem to say this is the only narrative a blind character can have, but rather that it is a relatable occurrence for blind children who are watching it.
Toph also has many episodes left — this is only the beginning. This is hardly her only arc, and even her personality and abilities challenge so many stereotypes.
In most shows, the blind character gets one episode. Toph, however, is a main character.
Toph is also a well-rounded and interesting character with agency. She hardly seems like an inspirational puppet for adults.if this show had been written for adults or if Toph had been focusing on wanting to become a champion “despite her blindness”, I might have felt upset. It goes to show how important nuance is when writing disabled characters and how powerful it can be to make an effort to challenge stereotypes.
This is not how we first see Toph— helpless, unproductive. Instead, we FIRST see her out in the world kicking butt with her bending skill and I think that it is important.
NOT SO HELPLESS AFTER ALL
Toph’s father uses these words to describe her: Tiny, helpless, fragile. Unable to help others. Unexpected to become a true master or even advance beyond breathing techniques.
Toph challenges all of these at some point. She helps Aang defeat the bad guys. She faces many people in battle and wins, remaining an undefeated champion until Aang accidentally beats her. She advances far beyond basic bending techniques. Toph is good at very active things, with bending as a martial art and as a sport here. It is refreshing to see blind characters being so active and a stark contrast to the passive image her father has of his blind daughter. She does things for herself, including developing her bending style without the help of a master who limits her- and she hides her double life well. Toph’s ability and personality also challenge notions of fragility: she is boisterous and fearless, stubborn and even a bit rude. She mostly says what she wants to and fiercely hides what she doesn’t want to, even when pressured. She yielded only to her parents, which is tied up in love, respect, fear that they will no longer love her, possible aversion to change in some aspects of her life, and cultural expectations. For disabled children, it is often hard to go against your parents because the world teaches you that the world will never accept you or allow you to live in it. Your family is all you have.
Toph IS tiny, although that is due to genetics, environmental factors, and her age. However, her stature is used to prove the other qualities assigned to her when in reality her height has nothing to do with anything her family believes about her.
When the fighting starts, Toph creates a cloud of dust which effectively blinds her opponents. I thought it was a nice, ironic touch. The point is not just that her opponents now cannot see; Toph is already used to fighting under these conditions. She didn’t level the playing field. She is already better than them, already used to working without sight, and so the advantage is hers.
ABLEISM IN ACTION
Later, Toph confronts her parents:
Toph’s father: “You will be cared for and guarded 24/7.” Toph’s mother: “We are doing this for your own good, Toph.”
Unfortunately, this kind of infantilization is not uncommon. They saw her as she truly was and were still unable to let go of their ideas of their blind daughter. At this point, Toph is more trapped than ever despite opening up. The first time, it was surprising to see them not change their minds, given the happy endings we are used to in children’s shows. However, what happens is more relatable to blind kids with overprotective or controlling parents.
Of course, Toph makes the choice to leave them, showing more agency than most blind characters get, with or without controlling parents.
OVERALL
Overall: I loved this episode. It was a nice introduction to a character that both challenged expectations and dealt with obstacles relatable to blind fans. Toph’s struggles with her parents and the weight of stereotypes could have been cheap inspiration porn, but the way it was handled and the target audience of children rather than adults changes things immensely. This episode goes out of its way to challenge many stereotypes viewers may hold about blind people in ways that are fun and exciting. Toph’s personality is refreshing even over a decade later. While her bending as ‘sight’ may be disliked by some, it feels more like something with missed opportunities (the use of a cane or sighted guide), although I thought this episode did it well. Toph is not given special powers so that she can see—she adapts an ability for her own use.
Toph is a martial artist, encouraging children to try something similar if they are interested. She challenges her own parents, which may be very relatable to blind fans.
Unlike most children’s shows of the time (and even now), Toph does not feel like a vessel for able-bodied viewers to learn about blindness.
ACCESSIBILITY:
However, it is important to remember that at the time ATLA aired, there was no Netflix with audio descriptions. Descriptions were infrequent at the time and are still spotty on cable TV. The ATLA DVD did not have audio descriptions either, which is the case with all DVDs I have come across. Netflix also took an embarrassingly long time to add audio descriptions to a show with a blind character.
Consider that Toph was nearly inaccessible to blind children at the time — until 2020, well after other sighted children could enjoy it fully. Blind children could not watch a show about them with the same ease that a sighted child could. Think about that.
Is the show to blame for this? I don’t know. Usually the broadcasting service handles descriptions. I have yet to come across a DVD with descriptions. However, I wonder why it took this long. Did the staff consider a blind audience at all? Could they have pushed for descriptions to be added to the DVD?
And what about fans? Did fans consider that the character who challenged stereotypes for them might not be as accessible to blind people themselves? While they scrabbled about whether the characters were ableist, did they bother to consider Netflix’s lack of audio descriptions? Do they remember to add image descriptions to GIFs, pictures, or video clips in the years ATLA was popular online? Did any of this occur to anyone BUT the blind community?
Doesn’t seem like it.
TOPH AND THINGS I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF/LESS OF IN BLIND CHARACTERS
I made a post about things I would like to see more/less of in blind characters. You can read it here:
More of:
-Blind main character ✔️
-Blind character of color ✔️
-Active (sports/martial arts) and competitive ✔️
-Acknowledgment of difficulties faced in society ✔️
How They Avoided Things I Wanted Less Of: -Being portrayed as sad or broken because of blindness - Avoided - Toph owns her blindness by giving herself the same The Blind Bandit. The only time she is sad is when facing ableism from her parents.
-Being innocent, helpless, and unrealistically kind or selfless - Toph proves she is not helpless, even directly challenging it in the narrative. - Toph is also not unrealistically kind or selfless, not only insulting other characters- but refusing to help Aang when he needs it because it would change things between her and her parents. She also challenges her parents in the end, putting her desires before their feelings toward their perceptions of her. When she follows Aang, she doesn’t do so only to help him. She has her own want to travel and gain independence. - As for innocence, Toph IS 12, although she is far from naive. She is able to fool her own parents into thinking she is who they want her to be.
-Being portrayed as ungrateful or rude in general - Toph’s rudeness comes from a non-ableist place—herself. She is not rude due to anger about being blind nor rude due to entitlement. She doesn’t accept she doesn’t need and is not demonized for this, even when going against her own parents. Toph’s rudeness is in her personality, making it subversive in avoiding the idea blind people must accept all help and be grateful for it. The narrative does NOT expect Toph to go along with the ‘help’ of her parents or even Aang. She refuses this help until she is ready and willing to receive it.
-Going blind due to accidents or trauma - Toph was born blind
I WOULD HAVE WANTED TO SEE:
-more adaptive technology/skills in addition to her bending
-how she utilizes her other senses
-another blind, minor character somewhere in the show (doesn’t apply to this episode, but still)
Toph is, in the end, a token blind character. It works better because she is a MAIN character, which is still not a common occurrence in modern media at all. Toph works because she does not have any stereotypical traits about her personality, which means the sighted audience does not have to rely on another character to broaden their perspective. However, it is still important to include more than one blind character in your stories. For ATLA, 1 or 2 minor blind characters may have helped, or maybe an additional secondary or even main character with low vision.
Toph has a well-rounded personality, which also means the “token” is not completely applicable to her. Toph is a great character. It would have been nice if she were not the only blind character. In fact, I cannot think of any show that has more than one blind character, as if it is a character quirk that cannot be done more than once.
RANDOM IMAGINES TIME
Now I’m imagining a Zuko whose eyesight was affected by the burn or a Zuko whose father decided he didn’t need that side of face anyway if he could not see out of it. Or an Azula who is blind and still better than Zuko -sticks out tongue-! Or perhaps Sokka or Ty Lee contrasting Toph’s personality and bringing to the table a struggle with a lack of depth perception while hunting or performing in the circus, respectively.
The point is, you don’t have to overload your story with blind characters unless you are setting it at a school or event for the blind. Instead, consider who is blind in your story and who else possibly could be. Consider why you only have one blind character and why.
That about wraps up all my thoughts on Toph. In short, I love her. There are things they could have done better or additions they could have made to improve the episode and Toph’s character as a whole, but she is still one of the most beloved and recognizable blind characters ever. I think that says something about the impression she left on people.
If only she would have been accessible to more blind children from the start.
I hope this review was helpful! If you need help writing blind characters I provide sensitivity reading in exchange for donations. My inbox is also open for questions.
