Why Women Should Look Up To Katherine Pierce

Katherine Pierce is arguably the best fictional character in TV land history. I think people should watch the show just to experience her character alone. Labeled as an evil villain I don’t necessarily agree with that. What people often get wrong about Kat is that she wasn’t a villain for the sake of being a villain. Even Elena Gilbert said it herself, “You weren’t born evil, life made you that way.” She was a fighter when being attacked and always did what was necessary to protect herself. How can we fault her for that? To me, Katherine was strong, intriguing, unforgettable, self-sufficient, and authentic. Now for the people that loved Katherine, sit back and enjoy as we explore all the things that made her incredible. And for the people that weren’t her biggest fan, give me the chance to convince you why women should be looking up to Katherine Pierce.

She was selfish (in the best way)

Hear me out. Being selfish is a positive thing. And more women need to be told to be selfish. To think of themselves first, to not be afraid of taking their piece of the pie, or hell the whole damn thing. Women are taught from the time they’re young to constantly look out for other people, put others’ needs before yours, be a caregiver, a motherly figure always. But if we’re so busy giving to others, when are we going to have the time to care for ourselves. Men however are taught to only look out for themselves. To focus on their shit and never get distracted by what others need. They’re not dimming their light to make someone else’s brighter. Now I am not saying we should totally act like Men. I think women should never lose what makes us so amazing which is our ability to be so generous, emotional, caring, and nurturing. But we’re a little too much of those things, we need to get used to being more selfish. We have needs too and they need to be met! When you are only putting others before your needs, you’re disrespecting yourself. Katherine is the perfect role model for this. She recognizes that this is her life and she’s going to do what she has to, to make it the best for herself. For example, at the end of season 2, Katherine is captured by Klaus in Alaric’s apartment as revenge for running from him for 500 years. He forces her to pretend to be Elena and lure Jenna out of her house so he can turn her into a vampire. He will then use Jenna in his sacrifice to break the hybrid curse that was put on him by his mother. In episode 21, The Sun Also Rises, Damon gets upset with Katherine when he finds this out, stating that Elena is going to die and Katherine is the only one that wins in their situation. I argue why would a girl who’s been fighting for her life for 500 years lookout for a group of people that she barely knows and owes no loyalty to? Katherine did have her moments of putting others before herself but the majority of the time made sure she got what she wanted. It is important to focus on yourself first, to make decisions that will move you to the place you dream to be. Katherine was often ridiculed for this. What’s wrong with being selfish with your time, energy, and life overall. You won’t want to look back on your time on earth and realize that most of it was making others’ life experiences more comfortable at the expense of your own. Creating an environment where you get to thrive and be happy lets you be a better person for those around you. You should never fail to be kind and respectful but always put yourself and your life as the highest priority. Katherine would highly approve you do so.

She recognizes the power in being alone

Self-reliance is one of the most important things you can learn from Katherine. She does this very well and spends most of her life alone, 500 years of running alone to be exact. We’re told from the moment we’re young girls to “find our prince charming,” that our self-worth and confidence are directly correlated to having a man by our side. We’re told to have as many friends as possible or else there is something wrong with us. We’re loners, we’re weird, we’re sad. Katherine recognizes this is all bullshit. She will never look to the outside world to give her confidence, to give her permission to do anything or to represent who she is. She finds the power in being alone. She’s gotten to define herself on her terms, finding out what she wants from life and not having to worry about a man telling her she’s wrong. Being totally in love with being by yourself will prevent you from accepting just anyone in your life for the sake of not being alone. You’re not living your life to the fullest if you don’t carefully craft the group of people in your life. It is a dangerous game not being comfortable in your stillness. You end up bending your morals and beliefs because you haven’t created a solid relationship with yourself. Being alone gives you the freedom to create a life where you can say you fully chose it for yourself and no one else. You won’t get thrown off by someone’s presence or their absence because you have become so stable in this life you’ve created all on your own. Just like our girl Kat. Katherine was banished to England from her family when she had a baby out of wedlock. From there spent 500 years running and dodging Klaus. This time alone allowed Katherine to pick up skills and life lessons that she wouldn’t have gotten had she let other people crowd her life. She doesn’t look to others to give her emotional support, she doesn’t look to others to tell her she’s right, and she doesn’t look to others to entertain her. Cue the scene where she was being held hostage by Klaus and still found a way to have fun, all by herself. She’s fierce, and bold, and she trusts herself. This is all from time spent being alone. It’s worth your while. Trust me. Trust Katherine.

She has a love for people and life even after all she’s been through

It’s no secret that Katherine has been through some shit. Having her baby ripped from her hands at birth, her family banishing her, committing suicide, having to see her family murdered, and then after all of that needing to run for 500 years from the most powerful vampire that exists. Yeah, she’s been through it. But one of her most admirable qualities is even after going through all of that she still fights to live her life to the fullest. She doesn’t back down no matter what happens to her and she uses her experiences to strengthen her and teach her lessons. She doesn’t let all the bad shit cloud her view on life and will take every opportunity to fight for her best time here on earth. Like she always says she’s a survivor. Katherine recognizes that she didn’t make it this far to give up and throw in the towel.

Despite her reputation, Katherine is a caring person. There are countless times in the series where she proved her love for other people. These moments get ignored a lot because she is painted as the villain. Katherine was a saving grace for people multiple times. In episode 22 of season 2, As I Lay Dying, After Klaus bit Damon he ended up giving his blood to Katherine as a cure for him. He finally let her leave his apartment after holding her there and she could’ve just run off into the sunset. Instead, she risked her escape plan by stopping by the boarding house to give Damon the cure, because she cares. And as she’s leaving she turns to Elena and states that it’s okay to love them both, just like she did. She has even told Stephan that her love for him and his brother was real. She’s not a heartless villain. In episode 9 of season 3, Homecoming, She was ready to help finally kill Klaus and be free. But her love for Stephan and Damon was stronger. She even talked Stefan into saving Damon. This wasn’t the only time she put her wants aside. She gave Elijah the cure for vampirism in episode 18 of season 4, American Gothic. This was something very valuable at the time for Katherine, not only because she wanted to avoid taking it herself, but also because she wanted to give it to Klaus in exchange for her freedom. She put her love for Elijah before herself, before her freedom, which was the thing that was most important to her. If you’re still not convinced Katherine had a caring side, let’s not forget the time she helped Stefan recover from his summer of hell. At the end of season 4, Stefan was locked in a safe and thrown in the water leaving him to drown over and over again. In episode 9 of season 5, The Cell, Katherine stepped up and guided Stefan through ways of coping with his trauma. If anyone knows anything about trauma it’s Katherine. If she was the heartless bitch people claim she is, she wouldn’t have done that. She would’ve went on her marry way and focused on herself. This was at the same time she was aging quickly and about to die. Her time was limited and she still put herself aside to help the man that she loves. I think Katherine put her needs first but when it came down to it, protected the people she cared about. You can see this in episode 5 of season 2, Kill or Be Killed. She questions Mason about putting vervain in the Salvatores’ drinks, reminding him to stay away from the two brothers. He asks her why she even cares and she hesitates, stating she doesn’t want him to get distracted. In this scene, we see Katherine’s humanity peeking through. She said in episode 9 of season 3, Homecoming, “Humanity is a vampire’s greatest weakness, no matter how easy it is to turn it off, it just keeps trying to fight its way back in. Sometimes I let it.”

She isn’t afraid to be honest with people

Being completely candid with people is one of Katherine’s greatest qualities. Being honest is something many are afraid of. We’re told to be nice and lie to people to spare their feelings. But honesty is kindness. Why have we become so sensitive we can’t even handle a little bit of constructive criticism? When our friend turns to us and asks us if the purple dress she is wearing is flattering on her, we feel the only option is to nod and smile, no matter what we actually think about her fashion choices. Katherine would tell you straight up that the black dress would look better with your body type. And why is that a bad thing? Don’t we want to know the rawest truth when we ask people their opinion? I think it is doing everyone a disservice in life by not being completely honest with one another. How many times have you met someone that was simply just candid with you? At first, you were probably a little shocked, maybe taken aback a bit because it is not the norm. But then you realize you instantly grow to respect this person because they respect you by giving their no-bullshit opinion. This goes for every type of relationship whether it’s your partner, a co-worker, a friend, or a family member.

Katherine has needed to be the one countless times to crush any head-in-the-clouds attitudes that anyone had. In season 4, Episode 18, American Gothic, Rebekah was certain she wanted to take the cure for vampirism, Katherine gave Rebekah a straightforward view on her decision, making Rebekah question if she put much forethought into her choice, a curtesy of Katherine considering no one else had done this for Rebekah. Judging by Rebekah’s defensive response, she didn’t put much thought into whether she will be truly happy as a mortal. Sometimes we want something so bad that we don’t think about the possible negative results of our choices. Having someone who can give you a real outside perspective on things can potentially save you from making choices that you can’t take back. And being the outside voice for someone else is also important. Being frank with people also gives you a life where you always end up getting what you want because you dared to voice it, not hide it. Honesty is one of the best traits one can possess because it always benefits both parties. People will have the comfort in knowing where you always stand and you have the comfort in knowing you always told your truth and didn’t bottle anything up.

She is unapologetically herself

The thing I admire most about Katherine is she shows the world exactly who she is and from there doesn’t worry about whether people will accept her. She says what she’s thinking, she wears want she wants, she doesn’t hide her desires, she has fun when she wants to have fun, etc. Katherine never fails to be and do exactly what she wants. She’d rather be alone than have people accept the watered-down version of her. That is the risk of not being your full true self, you start attracting the wrong people that like the masked version of you instead of using your authentic self to weed out the imposters in your life. Most women in their 20’s care so much about what others think of them, and then when they hit their 30s they have this unstoppable confidence. Why is that? It’s because we come to realize not being ourselves is a huge disservice to us and the people that come into our lives. Katherine is well over 500 years old so we can assume she has been through many life lessons, one of them probably being to never dull her sparkle. With age comes much wisdom and I know it can be hard to understand it when you’re young, but it is so important to be your true, free, authentic self right now! Katherine would demand you do so.

She knows that Stefan is the one you choose in life

When the Salvatores took Katherine into their home, she started a romance with both the brothers. Making it seem like she was into them equally but that was not the case at all. Kat has made it clear countless times in the series that Stefan was the one she was truly in love with. She longed for the day they would be together again when she left him in 1864. She knows how to pick em’. period! Choosing Stefan over Damon is an amazing example to set for women. Damon is not the man you choose in life. I repeat DAMON. IS. NOT. THE. MAN. YOU. CHOOSE. IN. LIFE. You marry men like Stephen and FRIEND ZONE men like Damon. We as women can all admit we kind of suck sometimes choosing men that are good for us. Katherine sees that Stephan is an incredible man, one that will always be there for you, let you make your own choices, respect you, care for you, support you, protect you, etc. That is a man you choose to be by your side throughout life. Elena even stated that she felt safe with Stefan because she knew he would never stop loving her. I love Elena’s choice of words here because my sister has always used this word to describe men that are boyfriend/husband material. Men that make you feel safe. So, next time you’re involved romantically with a man, ask yourself this, “does he make me feel safe?” Damon on the other hand is impulsive, cruel, arrogant, and unpredictable. Stefan values self-growth while Damon just thinks he’s perfect and never needs to change. That is not a man you want by your side. In episode 1 of season 2, The Return, Damon killed Elena’s brother right in front of her. Yes, he came back to life because he was wearing his Gilbert Family ring but we don’t know for sure if Damon saw it. Even if he did see the ring, it was a cruel, impulsive thing to do and it is downright traumatic to see someone you love die in front of you, even if they come back to life. Why would you date a man that causes you trauma? Elena choosing Damon gives girls the go-ahead to date unhealthy, broken men that they think they can puzzle back together. Kat spent over 200 years waiting to be with Stefan again and watching over him throughout that time. She knows that Stefan is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of man that you hold onto.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’m not saying Katherine Pierce was perfect. She has her faults as we all do. I could write a whole other essay on her negative traits, but it is undeniable that she is an incredible role model for women. I used to be an intense people-pleaser and put a lot of my value in people liking me. Katherine showed me that living your life for others and making decisions based on making other people happy is not the way to live. She represents all it means to be a modern woman. We’re powerful, brave, and unapologetic. We’re finally coming to realize all the magic we possess and we’re not going to feel bad about that. We’re not going to back down. We’re not going to dull ourselves. Katherine would be so proud.