Avatar: The Last Airbender: Gender Analysis

In general, when someone speaks, they reveal something about gender, either by upholding or subverting social expectations and ideology about gender. By analyzing the linguistic forms of a conversation, we can gather information about the ways in which gender ideologies permeate language. Examining a conversation from the media can additionally reveal something about how gender is viewed and upheld or subverted in our society. In the animated children’s television show Avatar: The Last Airbender, there are a variety of characters who challenge gender roles, but there are also instances in which characters uphold them. A conversation from the episode “The Blind Bandit” includes examples of both of these, and shows how the characters perform

gender and reveal their views on gender through their speech, as well as what this says about gender ideology in society as a whole.
The show exists in a universe where some people are “benders” who can telekinetically control an element of nature – fire, earth, water, or air.

Aang, a twelve-year-old boy, is the Avatar, meaning he has the ability to control all four elements, though at this point in the show he only knows how to airbend well. He, Katara, a waterbender, and Sokka, her nonbending (meaning he can’t control any elements) brother, are on a mission to save the world from the Fire Nation. The conversation in question is between Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph, a master earthbender who happens to be the young blind daughter of an aristocratic family. The first three are hoping that Toph will teach Aang earthbending, since they saw her beat multiple older, strong men in an underground earthbending competition, which Toph secretly participates in under the pseudonym “The Blind Bandit.” Aang had tried to talk to her there, but she fought him instead of listening, and lost because although she has the ability to “see” by feeling vibrations in the earth – she couldn’t find Aang easily or anticipate his moves since he spent much of the fight (though he wasn’t trying to hurt her) in the

air.
The conversation begins after the trio uncover Toph’s true identity and show up on her property – she finds them immediately:
Toph: “What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?”
Aang: “How’d you know it was me?”
Sokka: “Don’t answer to Twinkle Toes, it’s not manly!”
Katara: “You’re the one whose bag matches his belt.”
In these first few lines of the conversation, the characters establish a few things about how they perform their gender.

Toph speaks commandingly and with hostility, in a way that wouldn’t normally be expected for a young aristocratic girl, and insults Aang with a nickname that, according to Sokka, is not “manly,” because men should be strong, not gentle and light on their feet. Aang, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the insult, and easily ignored it. The fact that Sokka then berates Aang for his lack of manliness shows that the two of them have different concerns and beliefs regarding gender, and Sokka’s views are clearly based in a stricter gender ideology than Aang’s, one that aligns more with the common views of masculinity and femininity. Katara’s retort reveals two things. The first is that she also has a stricter view of gender roles and expected gender performance, or at least that she is aware enough of Sokka’s to use it against him. The second further shows that Aang doesn’t care about masculine and feminine ideologies, because he makes no attempt to defend himself. Katara, however, does feel the need to defend him, which means that she does, to some extent, believe that there is something shameful in being a man who acts in a more “feminine” way, such as caring about one’s appearance and

clothing.
The next part of the conversation offers further insight into the gender dynamics of the group:
Toph: “How did you find me?”
Aang: “Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and –”
Katara: “What Aang is trying to say is, he’s the Avatar, and if he doesn’t master earthbending soon, he won’t be able to defeat the Fire Lord.”
Toph: “Not my problem! Now, get out of here, or I’ll call the guards.”
In this piece of the conversation, Aang begins to tactlessly ramble until Katara cuts him off and explains the situation concisely.