[META] gender in LoK / Tahno as a transman

[blab]

LoK: talkin' class equality and spacin' gender equality
by: blab 

A friend of mine wanted my thoughts on how the creators have been dealing with gender in LoK and this is the result. There's casual discussion of plot points all the way up to episode 7 so please be aware of definite spoilers.

@ DW / LJ / tumblr


Is Tahno a transman?
by: blab 

I thought the endless speculation about the woman from s1x08 and whether she was Tahno, a relative of Tahno, or a Tahno fangirl was amusing up until the point that people started blogging and reblogging screenshots of her that pointed out that you can see a breast and that, of course, this meant it couldn't be Tahno at all! I might have 'hrmphed' and gotten indignant about that and posited the question of, "Why can't that be Tahno? What if he was out and about in Republic City that night without wearing his binder?"

@ DW / LJ / tumblr

Comments

[kaberett]

I've put together a not-terribly-coherent mish-mash of my thoughts on the second essay.

[pts]

I'd note in response to your first essay (which agree with, although I think you let LoK off the hook more than it deserves) that the show doesn't do a very good job of dealing with class equality issues either, despite being fundamentally about them.

[blab]

I was so flabbergasted by the fact they were even talking about class issues in a mainstream children's cartoon in the US that I totally spaced applying critical thinking to that aspect of LoK. My expectations are really that low. x-x

I'm curious as to what you saw in particular that you didn't care for in regard to LoK talkin' class. Would you be willing to expand upon that?

(Now I have to go back through all 8 episodes and look at the class aspect of 'em. I really should do the dishes first, though. Critical analysis will take the entire afternoon, I'm afraid.)

[pts]

They talk a lot about animosity between benders and non-benders, but the only people who seem to take the idea that non-benders could have any grievances are villains.

There are literally no significant characters in the show who aren't members of the privileged elite. The only ones who come close are Mako and Bolin, but they're still both benders and competitive athletes in the city's most popular sporting event.

The only non-benders who are shown to be unambiguously good are the ones who either implicitly (Pema) or explicitly (Asami) ally themselves with the ruling/bending class.

I'm tapping my toe pretty impatiently at this point, waiting for any non-villainous character to recognize that while Amon may be evil, people are flocking to him for a reason, and to subsequently suggest a solution better than whatever Tenzin's milquetoast "there has to be balance" rhetoric.

The people of Republic City don't need "balance." They need justice.

[blab]

It occurs to me that "balance" could be the watchword for "we aim to do right by the non-benders but I'm not giving up my status and power as a bender to make nice with 'em."

[pts]

Yup.