The third wave feminism movement strives to advocate for women of all race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender. Furthermore, Katara as “a woman of color from the oppressed and marginalized community” represents the intersectionality of third wave feminism. Evidently, Katara is not just one of the side characters, but she is an irreplaceable character with an agency to depict her own story. These feminine qualities of Katara serve as one of her greatest strengths that influences the Avatar from achieving world peace. She is an influential figure who is loving and humane. Katara, as one of Aang’s closest friends, often guides Aang to do the right thing. Although Aang becomes the most powerful bender in the world, his journey would not have been possible without friends. In the series, one of the core values that encourage Aang’s growth as an Avatar is friendship.
The nurturing and virtuous examples that Katara sets out for the people around her become reminders of strength and kindness.
In fact, Katara becomes a prominent character in the series demonstrating ““womanly” virtues without being stereotypically feminine”. She calms the Avatar, offers advice, and provides comfort as a figure of matriarchy.
When the extreme pressure to kill the Firelord gets Avatar Aang emotional, Katara takes control of the situation with leadership and patience. Moreover, Katara experiences growth in her leadership, confidence, and independence through her journey in Book 3. As a result, Katara defies patriarchy and proves herself worthy of respect. However, Katara endorses female agency by challenging the master to a water bending match. In Book 1, Katara is shunned from a water bending master because traditionally women are not allowed to learn water bending. Similarly, Katara’s feminist values develop her into a respected water bending master. This experience transforms Katara into a complex and “real” character with empathy and maturity. However, when the opportunity arrives, she doesn’t take violence for an answer. In the beginning of her journey, she seems determined to take avenge for her mother. Katara goes through stages of grief and anger until she takes the initiative to find the man who took her mother’s life. She battles many internal conflicts, one of them being her struggle to come to terms with her mother’s death. Throughout the series, we come to understand that Katara is a sophisticated and complex character. Likewise, female characters like Katara become significant to lead the conversation of feminism and female agency in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
These women also represent the intersectionality of third-wave feminism, constructing a model of diversity and inclusivity coherent to viewers of all ages. Many of those influences feature a number of “‘strong women”, but “strength” is not seen as their only valuable quality”. The series revolves around Avatar Aang’s journey in finding significant influences to become the master of all elements and save the world. Since this animated series was included in Netflix recently, many new and old conversations have emerged to the surface.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated TV series initially aired on Nickelodeon in 2005.