#i can't believe i thought Naruto was the sexist show as a kid and a:tla was the progressive one

[juana-the-iguana]

Sometimes I wish Avatar was more like Naruto

If Katara HAD to be primarily a healer after the A:tLA show, then I wish she would have turned out more like Sakura.

Yes, Sakura is a healer, but she's not afraid to fight. She uses her healing abilities not only to help others, but to make herself stronger, as her mentor did before her.

She was also still politically active and championed healthcare, both by running the hospital, sharing her medical knowledge and creating a children's mental health ward.

She is respected for her healing ability, as is her mentor, Tsunade, who was the Hokage. That's probably because, in general, healing is a respected profession in the Naruto world and it just happens to be a female-dominated field. It also empower's people and makes them able to fight proficiently later in life (don't give me that "she's 80 so she's too frail to take a days boat ride to see her granddaughter's Air Bending Master ceremony. She helped resurrect people and already lives in one of the most inhospitable places on earth.) We also get to see Sakura successfully heal multiple people throughout the sequel series.

Sakura's husband is absent for large stretches of time, leaving her to raise her child (who thinks, because of her father's prolonged absence, that he doesn't love her or her mother), and while doing this, Sakura still protects her daughters, maintains an active role in her community and has a known social life.

In her older age Sakura comes off as less aggressive than she was as a teen, but she still has that spunk and she loses her temper when she's pushed too far. She is humanized character with wants, desires and flaws. Having flaws does not negate her ability to provide emotional support nor play an active role in her children's lives, and vice versa. Her development doesn't negate who she was by the end of the first series, nor make her completely unrecognizable.

Although the physical differences between Sakura and Sasuke are not as pronounced as the ones between Katara and Aang (at least not with skin color, the hair is pretty noticeable), they still exist. Sarada has Sasuke's eyes and hair, but Sakura's skin color, facial and body structure. There was care put into her design, and when you see the Haruno-Uchiha family together, it is clear how Sarada resembles both of her parents.

Both the Avatar and Naruto worlds place a lot of emphasis on how great it is for people to learn how to fight using different styles, and Sakura's child actually does that. This not only shows that she respects Sakura, but that Sakura had an active role in teaching her child how to fight, despite the fact that Sarada's fighting style and training would later focus on how to master and utilize the Sharingan, it also shows that Sarada kind of sucks at healing, or at least does not have the same propensity to heal as her mother did, because she is not a carbon copy of her parents' abilities.

If Suki and Sokka HAD to break up, I wish Suki became more like Tenten.

Tenten is a single woman, and as far as we know, childless, by the time that the Boruto series starts, but she is still respected by her community. She is renowned for her knowledge of weapons, which are her primary weapon in combat, despite that fact that most of the ninjas we know use a lot of flashy elemental jutsus.

We never learn much about her background, and as time goes on she may become more distant from the cast of characters who were the protagonists for the majority of the original series, but she is still an unquestionable badass. We don't see her much, but whenever she comes on screen, her character shines.

If Toph HAD to join law enforcement, I wish she was more like Ino.

Ino is respected. Ino is feared. Ino is tough and believes in tough love. Ino isn't corrupt.

She is the daughter of a very powerful man and the heir to a very powerful clan. When her community needed her, she stepped up to the plate, she cared, she didn't run away.

She doesn't end up with the man she originally has a crush on, not because she's deficient in any way or not feminine enough or not pretty, just because he liked someone else and that happens. Ino moved on and formed a meaningful romantic relationship with someone else.

If Pema HAD to be a housewife, I wish she was more like Hinata.

There's no shame in loving someone who has romantic feelings for someone else, and expressing those feelings. In fact, it takes a lot of courage to do so. Both Hinata and Pema have that in common.

Even though Hinata is a housewife and the wife of a man from a dying clan who is also a major political leader, she is not a pushover and she is not defined by her husband. In fact, it's actually really great that she is a housewife, because she shows that housewives — and mothers — have agency and respect in-universe. This is also a nice glimpse into the domestic life of people in the Naruto universe. The two main characters of Naruto, him and Sasuke, were orphans, as were most of the supporting cast. Many of the families we do see are abusive.

Hinata shows that parents can be involved in their children's lives and their children turn out to be good people, interesting people worthy of watching a show about, even if their home lives aren't tragic.

Even though she is soft spoken, Hinata has a say in how her family is run, she lets her husband know what's up when he steps too far out of line, and she knows her children well and takes an active role in their lives. Boruto and Himawari are also close with Hinata's family and their Hyuga heritage is a major role in both their fighting style and their identities, even though they are also Uzumakis.

Also, like with Sakura and Sarada, Hinata's children actually resemble her, once again proving that they are neither carbon copies of a parent, nor completely unaffected by their mother.

No, Hinata is not the Hokage, but is still a valued member of her community. She maintains relationships with friends from her pre-marriage and pre-mother years, and we get to see those relationships on screen. This alone shows that she exists outside of her house.