A Massive Double Standard: Korra and Zuko 

My opinion; they are both jerks.

My opinion? They are both teenagers. I can't think of many teenagers who don't behave like jerks at some point.

That's true. Most teens are kind of jerks. Some more so than others of course.

We're also mostly teens etc we've all been jerks at times :P And Korra and Zuko too :(

Exactly. And I reckon that what matters most is how you come out at the end of it. Zuko came out pretty well; most fans love him. My hope for Korra is she ends well too, and the fans will remember he fondly for it.

Zuko did come out of it well, but he definitely went in much worse. I particularly care for him either way though. Korra seems likes she's still in it so we'll just have to see.

I love them both but the big difference between their characters is not their gender it is their background. Zuko had a pretty fucked up childhood and as a result has a lot of issues and internal conflict. Korra grew up in a loving if overly protective family. It is harder to forgive someones actions when you feel like they should know better.

I dunno, I hear loads that Mako's upbringing doesn't excuse HIS behaviour, yet people are prepared to slam him for his behaviour... Mind, that has nothing to do with gender, since they're both guys.
I do reckon that Korra's upbringing was a much less obvious problem; like you said, she grew up with a loving but overprotective family, and learned she was the Avatar before her time. I think these things could mess a kid up, it's just less obvious that it would than a father who burns his son's face off.
Personally, I do think Korra's gender does mean she gets more hate than if she were a guy; female characters are just much more heavily criticised, particularly if they are the protagonist.

The reason I kind of have that out look is because; Zuko's father's poor treatment of him and his lack of love given to him directly screwed up his ability to show love (because he didn't know how) and it's basic psychology that an abused child is likely to become the abuser. Where as I don't see how Mako's parents' deaths would inspire him to cheat on a girl. Sure he was never taught not to cheat on someone (not by his parents anyhow) but isn't it common sense that you shouldn't cheat on your girl/boyfriend? Zuko's past has a direct mental effect on his attitude where as Mako had more of a choice and was guided better. If that makes sense.

Makes sense, but I never really saw Mako actually thinking it was OK to cheat on Asami. Korra kissed him; it's not like he actively went out of his way to cheat on her. I'm not saying it's OK, but speaking as a guy who know what it's like to be attracted to a girl, I can understand it being hard to just pull away when you get kissed by one. Not defending it, just saying I understand and give the guy credit for trying to break things off with Korra after it happened. Kind of in a 'not as big a jerk as he could have been and as many guys his age are.' I guess I'm one of those people that thought him being friendly with Korra after she escapes Amon was kind of an emotional decision, not necessarily a smart one, but he wasn't actually doing anything that could really be classed as cheating, so he probably never thought about it. And then his relationship with Asami just sort of fizzled out, and I'm not really clear at what point it ended, but I know it was before Korra and Mako kissed at the end.
I've probably not explained myself all that well; I guess I'd just say that I have friends who have handled relationships and cheating and stuff far worse than he did, and I while I don't think that it's right, I don't think Mako does either - otherwise I imagine his behaviour would have been far worse than it was.

I think people give Mako a hard time because he is portrayed as a good guy. When a "good guy" does something wrong they are a lot more heavily criticized the if someone portrayed as a "bad guy" does the exact same thing. This is one of my pet peeves in the world of fiction.

Also it is a lot easier for someone to imagine themselves in Asami's shoes (the victim of a bad relationship) then Aangs shoes (someone who is being hunted like a dog by an obsessed prince) and that makes the injustice more personal.

I can understand that much. He didn't ask to be kissed. But he sure didn't do anything to stop it. I guess it's hard for me to see because I'm asexual (I simply don't feel sexually attracted to anyone). But he could have at least talked it over with Asami, she's a nice girl she would understand. Or I would think she would. I can imagine that it's nerve wrecking to confess something like that but it is the right thing to do and would have been easier in the long run. But yeah I can agree there; he could have handled it much worse.

And like minervadawn said good guys have it hard when they do something bad. Happens in real life too. People are so used to the bad guy screwing up that they write it off. And when the good guy does it it's like "OMG!!1!" I feel like I'm guilty of that.

^ I don't know if I'd be able to confess something like that to someone I was dating.

That's why I said that 'I can imagine it would be nerve wrecking'. I understand why he didn't. I don't really know if I'd be able to either, I'd have to be put in that situation. I would guess that I personally would confess, because that's simply how I was raised, I was told that if I confessed to doing something wrong my parents wouldn't be as mad, so that's what I do. But again I'd have to be in that situation, and not everyone is me.

^ I'd like to think I would too. On the other hand I don't tell by boyfriend every time a guy flirts with me. I know he would be fine with it (he'd probably think it was cute), but it's such an awkward thing to bring up. However, I never encourage those flirts and make sure to set them strait if they get too forward. I've never had someone continue once I told them I was taken, though.

Way I see it, these are just things that teenagers need to learn as they grow up; I get the distinct impression that Mako's kinda making it up as he goes along with Asami. I understand not wanting to tell her, but not telling her seems to come back to bite him when she finds out anyway and that seems to lead to their break up.
Honestly I just think this is a very real scenario; sadly, a lot of guys make stupid decisions when it comes to relationships. I know I have, and it would be way too hypocritical of ME to get annoyed over it. Believe me, I understand people who do. It's not good. But I'm in no position to judge a person based on how they handled a romantic relationship in their teens.

@minervadawn As I said I've never been in a relationship. But I am pretty shy in real life, so I guess it would all depend. To be honest I can't even see myself getting into that type of situation. But you never know. I can totally imagine that it would just be all around uncomfortable, and when would one even bring something like that up. Like in the middle of dinner; "yeah honey you're cooking is amazing...speaking of cooking I cheated on you!"

@tsmith I can agree there whether they learn it the easy way or the hard way. That's why I thought he should have just told her about it, so it wouldn't bite him in the butt. But we all make mistakes, some more severe than others.
Another fair point. People can definitely relate to this kind of end be it the cheater or the one cheated on. I think Bryke did the triangle decently, an unpopular opinion as it would seem.

^ I imagine in would be even harder in Mako's case. "Hey Asami, sorry about your dad turning evil and all, by the way I kissed Korra"

I can definitely see the problem there.