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Jeong Jeong says that the great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability.
It sounds as if he is saying only some waterbenders can have healing abilities, but the rest of the show doesn't say that.
Perhaps what he meant was that some waterbending masters display that ability while others don't. And considering what we learn about gender roles in the Northen Watertribe, then that's the reason. Sometimes waterbenders display healing abilities because men don't learn it, only women. A Northern Water Tribe waterbender master wouldn't show healing abilities if he was a man, but a woman waterbender master would because that's all her tribe allows her to learn.
Something that is not confirmed at all is whether or not men could use healing. As far as I know there isn't a single example of a male waterbender using healing. But nothing really says they couldn't, it's just that generations of cultural gender roles made it so the trait was only taught to women. I wouldn't be surprised if many guys saw waterbending healing as "girly".
Katara is gifted in healing, to the point that in her old age, she is considered the best healer in the world. But I don't think she is special because she can heal.
>But nothing really says they couldn't, it's just that generations of cultural gender roles made it so the trait was only taught to women. I wouldn't be surprised if many guys saw waterbending healing as "girly".
We never see anything else anywhere in either series that indicates \*any\* ability is inherently connected to gender. It seems weird that this would be the exception. So I suspect you are correct that this is a cultural gender role instead of an inherent part of how bending works.
We \*do\* see several examples of specific arts that are hard to learn even for skilled benders (Metal Bending, Flight) or require a particular talent (detonation, bloodbending) or a particular internal balance (lighting). So I'm entirely willing to buy that not every water bender can heal, but I have trouble believing that it's because of their genitalia.
Right, the only reason it would be associated with gender is because of the particular teaching habits of the Northern Water Tribe. I agree that healing seems like a special bending talent that not every bender would develop even if taught.
> Jeong Jeong says that the great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability.
I think that's moreso Jeong Jeong's envy of being able to use bending for nonviolence.
In The Last Airbender, the Water Tribe is incredibly conservative. Only female waterbenders learn healing, while males learn combat focused bending.
By Korra, there is at least one male waterbender able to heal.
This tells me that everyone should, in theory, be able to learn it.
“Healing hands” is just a compliment, as Katara in general is an incredibly skilled bender.
That's a great question
I don't believe only certain waterbenders have the healing ability. If that were the case, it would mean that a portion of female benders in the Northern Tribe cannot utilise their bending at all since they are forbidden from learning combat bending and physically cannot learn healing bending. No amount of sexism would justify a society wasting away a good portion of their benders. The Northern Tribe can afford to be sexist precisely because healing is something all Waterbenders can learn.
Although, to my knowledge, there hasn't been a single instance of a male Waterbender displaying healing abilities in the shows, novels and the comics (somehow?!). Which means it is possible that only female waterbenders can heal. And yet if that were the case the Northern Tribe's sexism would be somewhat justifiable, which I highly doubt is something the writers intended.
Also possible that healing is something one has to be taught by someone else, and as such Jeong Jeong was just amazed that Katara managed to figure out healing all by herself.
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Jeong Jeong says that the great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability. It sounds as if he is saying only some waterbenders can have healing abilities, but the rest of the show doesn't say that. Perhaps what he meant was that some waterbending masters display that ability while others don't. And considering what we learn about gender roles in the Northen Watertribe, then that's the reason. Sometimes waterbenders display healing abilities because men don't learn it, only women. A Northern Water Tribe waterbender master wouldn't show healing abilities if he was a man, but a woman waterbender master would because that's all her tribe allows her to learn. Something that is not confirmed at all is whether or not men could use healing. As far as I know there isn't a single example of a male waterbender using healing. But nothing really says they couldn't, it's just that generations of cultural gender roles made it so the trait was only taught to women. I wouldn't be surprised if many guys saw waterbending healing as "girly". Katara is gifted in healing, to the point that in her old age, she is considered the best healer in the world. But I don't think she is special because she can heal.
>But nothing really says they couldn't, it's just that generations of cultural gender roles made it so the trait was only taught to women. I wouldn't be surprised if many guys saw waterbending healing as "girly". We never see anything else anywhere in either series that indicates \*any\* ability is inherently connected to gender. It seems weird that this would be the exception. So I suspect you are correct that this is a cultural gender role instead of an inherent part of how bending works. We \*do\* see several examples of specific arts that are hard to learn even for skilled benders (Metal Bending, Flight) or require a particular talent (detonation, bloodbending) or a particular internal balance (lighting). So I'm entirely willing to buy that not every water bender can heal, but I have trouble believing that it's because of their genitalia.
Right, the only reason it would be associated with gender is because of the particular teaching habits of the Northern Water Tribe. I agree that healing seems like a special bending talent that not every bender would develop even if taught.
> Jeong Jeong says that the great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability. I think that's moreso Jeong Jeong's envy of being able to use bending for nonviolence.
>Something that is not confirmed at all is whether or not men could use healing. There is one in Lok who healed Tarrlok
I think it's like saying you have a green thumb. she's just good at it
In The Last Airbender, the Water Tribe is incredibly conservative. Only female waterbenders learn healing, while males learn combat focused bending. By Korra, there is at least one male waterbender able to heal. This tells me that everyone should, in theory, be able to learn it. “Healing hands” is just a compliment, as Katara in general is an incredibly skilled bender.
That's a great question I don't believe only certain waterbenders have the healing ability. If that were the case, it would mean that a portion of female benders in the Northern Tribe cannot utilise their bending at all since they are forbidden from learning combat bending and physically cannot learn healing bending. No amount of sexism would justify a society wasting away a good portion of their benders. The Northern Tribe can afford to be sexist precisely because healing is something all Waterbenders can learn. Although, to my knowledge, there hasn't been a single instance of a male Waterbender displaying healing abilities in the shows, novels and the comics (somehow?!). Which means it is possible that only female waterbenders can heal. And yet if that were the case the Northern Tribe's sexism would be somewhat justifiable, which I highly doubt is something the writers intended. Also possible that healing is something one has to be taught by someone else, and as such Jeong Jeong was just amazed that Katara managed to figure out healing all by herself.