In this scene, the
families gather for a rehearsal of the wedding ceremony. We see Mark, who is
the father of Callie’s child, storm in and ask where he should stand during the
service. The Colonel, Arizona’s father, glances over at him with a look of
disdain because of his intrusion into the family party. To ease the tension,
Callie’s father tells Mark that he can stand by him. Mark stands next to Mr.
Torres and whispers, “At least one of my fathers-in-law likes me.” To which Mr.
Torres responds, “You’re Sofia’s father, I love Sofia. So, I’m at least going
to try and like you. But if you call me your father-in-law again, I’ll knock
you out.”
In this scene the dialogue depicts the family’s frustrations
with the unmet performance of gender roles and conformity to the traditional
family unit. Both father’s are upset with Mark’s self-insertion in family
manners because he’s intruding and disrespecting traditional family values,
inserting his own masculinity, ultimately emasculating both the fathers of brides.
The next scene begins
with Bailey showing up at Callie's place, knocking on the door, and finds
Callie laying on the couch.
Dr. Miranda Bailey: Where's the baby? I could be a
babynapper, trying to baby nap you.
Dr. Callie Torres: I know why they sent you. And
it doesn't matter what you say, the wedding is still off. My mother was right.
It's a joke. It’s not a wedding. It's not happening. I can't have a priest. I
no longer have a minister. I'm not being given away by my dad.
The wedding isn't legal. What's the point? This isn't a wedding. It's not
even in a church. It’s nothing. It's a couple of girls playing dress-up.
It's not real. It's not real.
Dr. Miranda Bailey: First of all, you do not need the
law, or a priest, or your mother to make your wedding real. And the church, the
church can be anywhere you want it to be, in a field, on a mountain, right
here in this room. Anywhere, because where do you think God is?
Dr. Callie Torres: Mmmm...
Dr. Miranda Bailey: Come on. He's in you. He's in me.
He's right here, in the middle of us. Your church just hasn't caught
up to God yet. Your mother, she hasn't caught up to God yet. And by the
way, she might not ever catch up. But it's ok. If you are willing to stand
in front of your friends in front of and commit yourself to
another human being, to give of yourself in that kind of partnership, for
better or worse, in sickness and health. Honey that is a marriage. That is
real. And that's all that matters. Besides. Girl, I got legally married to a man
in a church. Look how well that turned out. (Bailey laughs)
Here we see Callie
express her frustration with the sociopolitical rules of society. We see Callie’s and her
parents’ Catholic identity challenging her relationships legitimacy within
the institution of marriage. As Schwartz and Rutter argue the freedom to choose
the person one loves turns out not to be
as free of a choice as one might suppose. Traditional norms of marriage and
sexuality have maintained social order by keeping people in appropriate categories.
In this dialogue we see the authors argument confirmed in that committed
same-sex couples continue to be denied legal marriages, while heterosexual
couples take these social benefits for granted. For example, in the next scene
we see a visual dialogue contrasting Arizona and Callie’s wedding with Derek
and Meredith’s wedding. Meredith and Derek are a heterosexual couple, who on a
whim decide to get married. This contrast is powerful because of the
simultaneous visual dialogue between a heterosexual wedding and a lesbian
civil union. Ironically, Arizona and Callie perform their civil union with a
ceremony before their family and friends. While Derek and Meredith elope and
get married by a judge, with no ceremony or guests. Callie and Arizona dress up
in beautiful white dresses, have nuptial rings, and throw a big wedding
celebration. While Derek and Meredith skip the wedding attire, rings, and
party. Yet, Callie and Arizona’s union is not considered a legal marriage. All
the while, Derek and Meredith’s wedding is completely recognized by the law. For
Callie and Arizona, the big wedding serves as a performance of traditional marriage
for the family and society. For the last
scene, I chose Callie and Arizona wedding reception where they have a
traditional father daughter dance. Arizona apologizes for not taking it
off the schedule since Callie’s father is not in attendance. Callie shakes her
head and encourages Arizona to dance with her dad; and just as Callie is about
to sit this dance out Mark, the nontraditional best friend and father of her
child, steps in to give Callie the experience of this traditional wedding
custom.
Dr. Mark Sloan: No you won't. I'm a
father. I can dance. Let's dance.
Callie smiles and takes Mark’s hand
as they begin to dance. Then suddenly, Callie's father unexpectedly shows
up at the wedding reception.
Mr. Torres: May I cut in? (Callie's
face is fills with surprise.)
Dr. Mark Sloan: She's all yours.
Mr. Torres: I was driving to
the airport with your mother, when it hit me. I've been looking forward to
dancing with you on your wedding day since I first held you in my arms. So
I turned the car around and came back. So here I am to have his dance with
my daughter. (Callie smiles and dances with her dad.)
The camera zooms out to
an image of the two brides dancing with their fathers in big white dresses at
their wedding reception engaging the image of the traditional bride. The camera
shot then cuts to the top of the wedding cake, displaying two women figurines
in white dresses, putting into retrospect how Callie and Arizona’s love challenges
the traditional bride and groom marriage ideology.
Conclusion
Grey’s Anatomy’s portrayal
of the lesbian relationship between Arizona Robbins is powerful in depicting
the complex intersectionalities involved in living in the margins of mainstream
culture. Arizona’s and Callie’s characters confront and negotiate the social
constructs of family, marriage, and sexuality. However, their characters are
short sighted in that the relationship is performed within the traditional
gender roles of femininity. None of the gay or lesbian women on the show have
been gender ambiguous characters. And even though gay male couples have made
sporadic appearances as patients throughout the show; none of the main male
characters on the show have been gay. Another issue with the series is the
absence of lesbian or gay couples from a young age or from a low socioeconomic
status. This has negative implications for members of these intersecting LGBTQ
communities in that in the show they are nonexistent and/or
invisible.
However, while Grey’s
Anatomy
may be lacking these multidimensional LGBTQ characters; they are present in
Shonda Rhime’s more recent hit shows Scandal and How
to Get Away with Murder. Rhymes has advocated for a continuum for
social justice issues over the past eleven seasons through a series of multi-faceted complex characters in her show. I
hope, the inclusion of a transgender character will be the next for Ms.
Rhimes. Grey’s
Anatomy plays out many of the
stereotypes around gender, sexuality, and ethnicity but renders others invisible.
The show uses the audiences’ familiarity with these stereotypes constructively to
create opportunities for viewers to engage in critical reflection around their
own biases. Callie Torres and Arizona Robbin’s characters allow the audience to
engage in a social justice discourse by acting out many of the complex power
and identity issues that trouble our society today. In conclusion, while Grey's Anatomy is
constructively pushing back on the social dynamics of gender, ethnicity, and
power; the show still has work left to be done.
Sources:
Schwartz, P., & Rutter, V. (2004). The gender of sexuality. In Hill Collins, P. & Anderson, M.
(Eds), Race Class and gender: An anthology. United States: Thomson
Wadsworth, pp. 448-454.
Torres, J. B.
(1998). Masculinity and gender roles among Puerto Rican men: machismo on the US
mainland. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, 68(1), 16.
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