Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers were cut from the same cloth. They were both stubborn idealists ready to fight for their beliefs. The right thing to do wasn’t the instructions or the law on paper, but what they felt was right in their heart and they were willing to suffer the consequences for their faith in their fellow human.
We see throughout “Captain America: First Avenger” and the TV series “Agent Carter” that Peggy was never fully valued for what she had to offer simply because there was something about her that didn’t conventionally fit into the world around her; she was a woman’s in a man’s world. Yet she stayed true to herself and used all she had to her own unique advantages in the field. Her most famous line is still “I know my value. Anybody else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.”
Peggy saw Steve for who he was before the world did. That was probably because she was usually one used to being overlooked. She saw the hero when everyone else only saw a liability.
My favorite scene between Steve and Peggy happens when she shows up in the rain while he is attempting to entertain what turns out to be what was left of the 107th. Steve is grappling with the fact that his life long dream feels more like a nightmare some days, still trapped under the weight of everyone else perceptions and expectations of him: limited, just now with chorus girls.
But here comes Peggy, used to ignoring and defying expectations daily: “And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know?”
Before Captain America inspired the world he was inspired by one woman’s faith in him. And her biggest lesson was reminding him to believe in his own value even when no one else does. And then act on it.
We know how the story goes after that.
Everyday I try to become a little more like Peggy Carter. I try to see my own value regardless of the system I operate in. I surround myself with other stubborn idealists who choose to truly see each other even if no one else does. I remind myself it doesn’t matter who gets the credit at the end of the day and well chosen words can inspire others well beyond our wildest imaginations.
Captain America may have inspired the world.
But it was Peggy Carter who inspired Captain America.