#my personal interpretation is as above but i wouldn't blame people for being uncomfortable with her from now either

[wisheswagered]

read the ganji letter leaks... trying to decide how i feel.

[anonymous-gambito]

Oh my, where do I even begin...

Okay, but this is some weird kind of victim blaming towards girls.

First, there's this uncomfortable phrasing where this person acts like Ozai is Azula's husband or love interest. This is an argument I see a lot in "girlboss feminism" takes, the idea was originally supposed to be "I don't want every girl character's main motivation in life to always be to get with a man", which is very fair, but to some people it somehow turned into "It's lame for women to seek love and want to be loved lol what weak idiots", which in turn, ironically, makes it so only male characters will be allowed to portray certain kinds of very human amotion, making female character's more flat and restricted in their characterization. But as I said, the argument here is one usually directed at a female character about the man she's romantically interested in. I mean, I do interpret some emotional incest (which is different than "incest incest")/parentification aspects in Azula and Ozai's relationship, but that would make what the person said above worse, because then it's judging the child for the way they react to their own abuse, instead of the abuser.

Another thing is, if we're going to recognize the patriarchal nature of wanting to gain power through a man, seeing a powerful man as an aspiration, and valuing his approval above all else, then shouldnt we judge stories about boys wanting to be like their fathers way harsher? Girls are one of the main targets of misogyny, and while cis boys suffer and are looked down by the patriarchy too, they're the ones who have the chance of becoming the future Man In Absolute Power. So why blame girls for their own oppression instead? Zuko is the one who wouldn't shut up about being the heir to the throne throughout the whole show.

Anyways, I'm going back to the Utena fandom now where people actually understand the complexity of girls trying to climb and gain power in a system that treats them like objects that can only have purpose and be made valuable by tying themselves to a "special man", bye

Look at this for a moment.

Notice how Azula, a 14 year old child at her oldest in the show, is now somehow a “woman” and not a girl.

Notice how Ozai isn’t her father and only remaining parent. He’s just “a man”.

Notice how the emphasis is on Ozai’s power as something Azula desires, as if she’s the power-hungry equivalent of a gold digger rather than an abused child who can’t defy her father who also happens to be the unquestionable ruler of their highly-militarized nation.

Notice how Azula being motivated by wanting her father’s love and approval—a normal desire for any child but especially one who hasn’t received love—is somehow “reductive”.

And yet Zuko having the exact same motivation despite being two years older somehow isn’t?

This is misogyny. And it’s been so internalized that they can’t even recognize it’s coming from inside the house.

Fandom is a mess. Can we please talk about the sexism and ableism surrounding Azula discourse?

You don’t have to like her or agree with her redemption to recognize this is not okay.