oatmealaddiction:

So it’s 2020 can we talk about how Avatar portrays femininity as well as just gender in general? 

You have Katara, Toph, Suki, and like 800 other amazing female characters who are out here being warriors and making a point that women can be incredible fighters too, and there’s an episode that addresses this explicitly where Katara duels Pakku and basically explodes his reductive view of women (best scene in the whole thing is when everyone carts her in to apologize to him.)

And there’s a lot about women being encouraged to take part in traditionally masculine spaces, particularly again with Toph and Katara. Katara is great too because the show doesn’t draw a dichotomy between a fighter and a healer. Katara can be gentle and motherly and a good shoulder to cry on, while also being a hundred percent badass. 

But then also the show is really good (albeit a bit subtler) about the value in men embracing traditionally feminine traits and activities. 

Our main character is pacifist vegetarian soft-boi who wears flower crowns and makes jewelry and spends a lot of time talking about his feelings and he is by and far the most morally sound character in the series who is completely at ease with who he is. 

Then you have Sokka who a lot of people have pointed out has an arc that’s basically “chug respect women juice,” and part of that arc includes him wearing the Kiyoshi uniform, something he feels emasculates him, (and which the show makes a joke about tbf) but then they turn it around and make the ensemble genuinely badass. 

And then sweet Zuko who is absolutely someone who is portrayed as caring and sensitive in his childhood (by no small part due to his mother’s influence) who is raised in probably the most toxically masculine environment in the show. The Fire Nation might have women in its ranks, but feminine traits like compassion, mercy, and basically any emotion that isn’t a desire for destruction are seen as disgraceful. It’s notable what gets Zuko banished is his refusal to fight his own father, and how that is labeled disrespectful. 

It’s also notable that the people and places that change Zuko are more feminine in nature. He works in a shop, cleaning and preparing tea. He meets two young women who drastically change his view on Earth Kingdom civilians. He spends time helping a family with children. And through all this he’s there with Iroh, a guy who enjoys music, culture, and natural beauty, who’s sensitive and dedicated to humble acts of kindness for others, and who Ozai dismisses as an embarassing failure. 

And the show ends with Zuko ditching all this toxicity and just being the guy he wants to be. He even hugs Aang at the end, something Season 1 Zuko would never do with anybody. Our boy hugs!

Like the show doesn’t just empower women by letting them fight, it also shows the power and value in emotional vulnerability and compassion that is usually only reserved for women. It empowers women to fight and kick ass while also deconstructing toxic masculinity. 

Tl:dr: Avatar says let women fight, and let men be emotionally open with each other and hug!

arirna:

katy-l-wood:

Okay, I shared this one with @gallusrostromegalus last night but I gotta share it with the rest of y’all too because it delights me. I have dubbed this real estate find The Mining Camp. AND I WANT IT.

Firstly, it sits at 11,200 feet on a mountain pass. I have camped up here before and the thunderstorms shake your soul. I also suspect there is a decent amount of the year that you…ah…can’t leave. Because snow.

Tiny lake!

Look at this disaster of windows and other nonsense! I love it! Bones! Questionable signage! Mismatched chairs!

Other house? From what I can tell I think there’s three cabins on this property, plus some barn/shed things.

MAP CEILING. MAP CEILING. MAP CEILING. Also note the blown up front page of a newspaper that is titled “Ode to the Egg.” I think it is taped on the front of an…oven? Dishwasher? Whatever it is I’m pretty sure it is not an appliance meant to be ON TOP of the counter.

Look at those cute little shutters! And home-made tables!

…Kiln? Excessive pizza oven?

Suspect mining ruins, which probably means random and likely unmapped minehshafts.

More suspect mining ruins. Given the area, my guess is gold mine.

Random towers? Pretty sure these are gonna wake up and wage war if anything happens to the lake they’re watching over.

Also worthy of note is the fact that it gets power from a power plant designed by Nikola Tesla. And it is near one of only two Colorado mining towns to have NEVER burned down, even once, despite being made of 100% wood and drunk people. I’m sure there was no witchcraft involved in protecting the town at all. They just named their most scenic spot the Devil’s Gate for funsies.

I’m honestly not even kidding when I say I would snap this place up in a heartbeat if I could afford it. Weird cryptid artist living among the ruins at the top of an inhospitable mountain is 110% my aesthetic.

pathokinessis:

Female character: I can’t have children and that makes me a monster. I’m not worth anything now.

Me a tired creature glaring at the writer:

conversation16:

conversation16:

hey so it’s march now aka the beginning of endometriosis awareness month and i feel obligated to remind you that debilitatingly painful periods are not normal. if you or someone you know is ending up sick or bedridden every month, you are not crazy and deserve medical attention from someone who will take you seriously

hey it’s march again let’s get this post circulating again

istoleyourboredom:

Griffin: I don’t prefer this title myself, but well… I’m the Mothman!

Me:

healthgothmom:

fresnosnightcrawlers:

My mom: you know what happens if you google mothman,,, he comes to your window,,,,,

Me:

spoorks:

moth man……. moth me a man…..