We test the Bechdel Test on another episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender and this is how it went

Are there women in the episode:

  • Katara
  • Suki

Do the women talk to each other:

  • No

Do they talk about something other than men:

  • No

Unfortunately, this episode fails the Bechdel Test because it did have named women, they never talked to each other during the episode. It seems that as the show progresses, more women who play a prominent role are introduced and have more conversations that aren’t about men. While this episode did fail the Bechdel Test, something else interesting did happen in this episode and it revolves around one of the members of Team Avatar, Sokka, and the warriors of Kyoshi.

The warriors of Kyoshi are all female and they are the military force for the island of Kyoshi. They got their name from one of the previous Avatar’s that was born 400 years ago named Kyoshi who was a female earthbender. She was very powerful bender who’s fighting style helped the warriors of Kyoshi defend their home. When the episode starts though, Sokka was enforcing a stereotype that women are better at taking care of doing household duties while men are better at hunting and fighting. Plus, Sokka assumes that women are weak and that they can’t beat men when it comes to combat. But during the episode, Sokka learns that women can also be great warriors and men can also do housework. He learned this from the warriors of Kyoshi and they showed Sokka all the training and moves that one of the previous Avatar, a woman named Kyoshi, used to fight during her time as the Avatar. Plus, the warriors of Kyohsi never got mad at Sokka for being sexist, they were opened and allowed him to train with them so that he can learn that men aren’t the only ones that can be good warriors. He also apologizes to Suki and says that he treated her like a girl instead of a warrior which is cool character progress in any show. Plus the warriors of Kyohsi never got mad at Sokka for being sexist, they were opened and allowed him to train with them so that he can learn that men aren’t the only ones that can be good warriors.

Shared by: Gabriel Olsen
Image Credit: Anime Wiki