ATLA Book One: Water
Chapter Four: The Warriors of Kyoshi
In which Iroh and Zuko
consult a map, Aang plays with some marbles, and Sokka wears a dress.
So it’s basically the “girl power/ sexism is bad episode”,
right? No?
First off, let it be noted that I have next to no problem
with episodes of television that certain sections of largely male fandom will
dismiss as either “girl power” or “sexism is bad” episodes, mostly because the
depressingly large swathes of that type of fandom will act like “Oh great, it’s
the ‘Girl Power’ episode” is a legitimate criticism of episodes of television
like “The Warriors of Kyoshi”. I’ll also defend the type of episodes that
simply celebrate girl power or point out that sexism is bad because those are
still (sadly) rare to see on television, and good, valuable things for a show
like ATLA to do. But I think this episode and its exploration of gender
politics takes on so much more depth than those descriptions suggest.
It’s worth examining what the show has done with
regards to gender so far. At this point, it has seemed to follow the often used
model in genre fiction where there is one significant female character in the
main cast in Katara, and the world itself (see the original Star Wars trilogy
as a prime example of this model). However, it is worth noting that the show
has already created a wonderful female lead within this model – Katara is given
narrative weight as the narrator and the viewpoint character of the show, and
it has been hinted that she is on a similar journey to Aang, as both head
towards the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending. And she has already
been given a wonderful amount of complexity, with hints of her grief at losing
her mother, her maternal nature, and her ability to fight past her limitations
already having been demonstrated throughout the first three episodes. And of
course, she had her wonderful takedown of Sokka’s sexism in “The Boy in the
Iceberg”, a character note that is picked up on for both characters (though
mostly Sokka) in this episode. The show has demonstrated through Katara that it
can treat its female characters with real respect, but this episode shows what
it can become as it slowly moves away from the “One female character of note”
model.
The episode does so on the largely female space of Kyoshi
Island, a place founded by the last female Avatar, protected by a female
warrior troupe who style themselves after Kyoshi, and it’s a notable fact that
these are the first group of non-bending fighters we meet. Kyoshi Island also
acts as the setting for the show’s first “The Gaang visits a village” episode –
a type of episode that is particularly prominent throughout season one
(although it is still used in the later seasons as well). And this female
space, defined by the figures of Kysohi and Suki, becomes a place for a
deconstruction of the harmful masculinity demonstrated by the male leads.
The deconstruction of Sokka’s problematic values is in
evidence from the beginning of the episode, as we see a repeat of pattern from
the opening scene of the series, as Katara calls him out on his sexism by
hurling back the trousers she was sewing for him unrepaired after he casually
makes a gender stereotype. It’s an interesting moment because, as well as being
a fun joke, it demonstrates how limiting Sokka’s ideas of gender roles are for
him – he considers sewing a woman’s job, but after insulting Katara by
vocalising these thoughts, he is left stranded, and unable to help himself,
because he’s always considered himself above learning what he considers a
female role. It’s an effective demonstration of how Sokka’s brand of toxic
masculinity is ultimately self destructive.
Yet Sokka persists in his attitudes, being unable to accept his capture at the hands of the Kyoshi
Warriors, downplaying the idea that women can be strong until he is confronted
with the inadequacies of his attitudes face on (or rather, with his face on the
floor). However, as was noted in my first post, Sokka has always had the
capacity for redemption in the fundamental decency he shows when he faces down
the Fire nation ship and when he helps Katara rescue Aang in “The Avatar
Returns”. And after being humiliated by Suki,
it is this decency, and not his pettiness, that shines through: Sokka kneels
down before Suki as a mark of respect, admits he was wrong, and admits he would
be honoured if she would teach him. And being taught by Suki allows him to
embrace a more healthy attitude towards gender that embraces both the
traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine aspects of himself: he
learns to fight, but does so in the style and garb of an all-female warrior
troupe, with the moment where he starts to embrace wearing Kyoshi-style robes
being more of a revelatory moment than him becoming proficient at Suki’s
fighting style. Yet even at the end of the episode, Sokka needs reminding that
“warrior” and “woman” aren’t mutually concepts. He has been internalising the
fact all episode, but his goodbye to Suki is the moment his attitudes truly
change.
The episode is also interesting for the figure of Kyoshi herself,
who offers the earliest possible revelation that the Avatar Spirit can be
reincarnated into male and female bodies. Aang (on the whole) embraces this spirit,
being comfortable with more traditionally feminine activities, a prime example
being the “Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewellery
making business”/ “I don’t see why I can’t do both” exchange from “The
Fortuneteller”. Similarly, he happily shares the fact that he used to be Kyoshi
with the people of the village, demonstrating his comfort with having a female
past life. Notably, this is the first time we truly see Aang embrace the role
of the Avatar.
However, this leads to a deconstruction of Aang’s
performative masculinity, and the way being the Avatar feeds his ego. As this essay on the first episode of the series points out, Aang is incredibly
comfortable performing in the female gaze for the female gaze, which is largely
a positive thing. However, in this episode, Aang doesn’t perform within the
female gaze, but instead actively seeks female attention to feed his ego, in
particular the attention of an increasingly unimpressed Katara. This decision
results in the Gaang staying in Kyoshi Island long enough for Zuko to burn down
the Village, and for Aang to end up getting hurt by the Unagi, and need
rescuing by Katara, who saves Aang with another piece of brilliant
improvisation within her currently limited bending skillset. In the episode,
Aang falls into a form of masculinity that is harmful to himself and the
society around him. And Aang is only able to save the day by rejecting the
hyper masculine “stand and fight” mentality, and listening to Katara’s advice,
just as Sokka rights his toxic masculinity by learning to listen to Suki. He
also saves the village by riding the Unagi not out a desire to feed his ego,
but to right the wrongs that desire caused: Aang gets rid of the harmful
masculinity that caused damage, and replaces it with the desire to right his
mistakes that makes him a hero.
And that’s “The Warriors of Kyoshi”: a story where a female
space becomes a place for male characters to reevaluate the harmful aspects of
their constructions of masculinity. It’s a wonderful little episode.
End of Part Three.
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