I honestly don’t think Avatar is a great example for a gender dichotomy. In some ways I suppose you could say that it does because it portrays all, or nearly all the men as being rough, stone cold soldiers who are all about their main goal which is money. In contrast, the women seem to care more for the indigenous people and their planet, but they are not by any means delicate little flowers; they are just as aggressive as the men. Of course this is just a comparison of the human characters. When it comes to the male and female navi (sp?) they seem to have a much closer goal in life and perception of the world around them; I don’t see much of a difference here.
Jake’s original identity is the tough marine who is completely self confident, willing to do anything to prove himself, doesn’t care much about science or anything, he just wants to go in and kick ass and prove he is not any less of a man than anyone else. Once he spends some time in the new world in his avatar body he starts to understand their beliefs and values. He realizes that what the humans are doing is wrong and slowly starts to side with the navi. Of course he doesn’t show this when he is with the humans, especially with the military leaders, because as Cheung says “…if we present these identities in inappropriate social settings, we experience embarrassment, rejection, or harassment” (275). This is much like the personal web pages Cheung talks about. Jake would probably like to show his real ‘identity’ but isn’t safe doing so in front of most of the humans. When he is in his avatar body it is safe to do so because he is with an audience that obviously agrees with his new identity.
Bell, David, Barbara Kennedy, and Charles Cheung. The Cybercultures Reader. 2nd. New York, NY: Routledge, 2007. 273-85. Print.
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