Stories of dystopian and malfunctioning societies are more popular today than ever. In “The Hunger Games” trilogy by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen risks her life in an annual competition against 23 other adolescents where only one survives. AMC’s “The Walking Dead” chronicles people who fight for their lives after the zombie apocalypse. Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy introduces Tris Prior, who lives in a society where a choice between five factions dictates life.

As a follower of these series, I cherish the morals and survival skills they have taught me. 

I know exactly how I would stay alive if the government tried to eradicate unfit humans by releasing zombies on the country (I will be locking myself in my closet for a while before taking my stripped-down-umbrella-turned-sword to the PAR dining hall for provisions).

While these series share the theme of an unfit world, they differ majorly in their portrayal of women. In “The Walking Dead,” women die or are completely dependent on men, never becoming powerful forces in the group.

The show’s popularity somehow lets this skate by. Writers have yet to introduce a woman who has played an equal role to any of the men in the show or a role similar to characters such as Katniss and Tris — teenage heroes who crush the dependency stereotype in their series.

Each series has taught me about being a functioning member — and woman — in our society. But none of these lessons are more important and relatable than those from “Divergent.”

Early in the novel, Tris discovers she doesn’t belong in any particular faction and must rely on her courage when she picks the faction associated with fearlessness.

Similarly, fearlessness is where Katniss excels. Her physical and emotional strength are characteristics that are not often replicated.

But, when asked if they are “Team Gale” or “Team Peeta,” many die-hard fans answer, “Team Katniss.”

This is where my problem with her begins. 

Women don’t need men to be successful by any means, but women don’t need to ignore men to be successful, either. Katniss acts as if love doesn’t exist in her life, which is misleading and can send a poor message to young women.

Not choosing a man does not equate to being a strong woman. She paints an image of strength through avoidance of love.

Tris, on the other hand, embraces love. When she realizes that she has requited feelings for her trainer, she’s not afraid to act on them.

This seems petty — and I promise that I am not missing the central points of bravery and compassion in these series. Both women show amazing levels of strength and recovery when faced with adversity. But Tris teaches women lessons about confidence that Katniss cannot.

When “Divergent” touches on rape culture and sexual assault, it touches on a fear applicable on college campuses and to life in general. Tris masters the art of saying “no” and remaining adamant. These are important lessons that women hear, but don’t see represented often in the media.

“Divergent” also uniquely addresses exploitation and being filtered into certain roles in society — their factions, our stereotypes. Some people are happy fitting into them — whether that of the sorority girl, the art major or the newspaper reporter. They are not always negative — or concrete. Tris realizes that to be happy, she must embrace the two parts of her life — selflessness from her old faction and fearlessness in her new one — even though she was told to choose one.

This is universally applicable: choosing between going out with your friends or staying in to read a book you love (please, tell me this specific example is not just relevant to me). 

Spin it with any two things you’ve ever loved and had to choose between without really understanding why the choice was necessary. For me, it was refreshing to see someone like Tris have her cake and eat it, too.

Tris is a trailblazer with conflicting interests in her life that she is not willing to give up. It’s not until she embraces her unique, unfitting parts that she is able to see how they could work together. We see how we can find happiness unabashedly, learn to fearlessly take what we deserve and be who we want to be.

It is important that, aside from the classroom lessons that we come to college for, we walk away with a set of skills that prepare us for life. These skills have changed over time, and now they include being able to stand up for ourselves in ways that Tris does. She saw problems and fixed them. While Tris gives us more direction, Katniss, too, sticks up for herself in fiercely noble ways that young women aren’t always taught.

These characters gave me strength to fight my own President Snows and Jeanine Matthewses — who sometimes look more like Regina George in “Mean Girls” or Miranda Priestly in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Despite some of Katniss’ noble traits and overwhelming popularity, I will keep looking up to Tris for reasons that Katniss and “The Walking Dead” characters haven’t provided. She is a strongly relatable and heroic character, setting a realistic example for readers everywhere.    

Emma is a freshman in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].