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Gender representations in grey’s anatomy PDF

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Added on  2021-12-10

Gender representations in grey’s anatomy PDF

   Added on 2021-12-10

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Running head: GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
Gender representations in grey’s anatomy PDF_1
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GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
Introduction
Gender representation in television and films has always been a matter of serious concern
especially since the time women began to object to misrepresentation. Examples of women
especially being misrepresented in television and films are abounding.
The paper aims to present the representation of different genders in the popular television
show Grey’s Anatomy. The discussion will include the representation of not only masculine and
feminine gender but also transgender if there are any in the chosen show. The essay will first
briefly summarize the television show and then integrate the gender representation analysis. In
doing so, the essay will incorporate the various characteristics of male and female genders and
associate these with the show’s characters.
Discussion
The television show first aired on the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
channel on March 27, 2005 (Imdb.com, 2018). A medical drama, the show became immensely
popular and ran through fifteen seasons with the last season being aired in 2018 on 27
September. The lead character in the show is Dr. Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo) and
supported by Dr. Derek Shepherd (played by Patrick Dempsey) (Imdb.com, 2018). Revolving
around the lives of interns, physicians and residents, the show brings out the intrinsic personal
and professional relationships and emotions. The story is set in an imaginary hospital in Seattle
named Seattle Grace Hospital (Seasons 1 to 9) or Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (later seasons).
Other important characters of the show include Izzie Stevens (played by Katherine Heigl),
Denny Duquette (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Dr. Fin Dandridge (played by Chris
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GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
O’Donnell) (Imdb.com, 2018). The following section shall explore the representation of genders
through these diverse characters in the show.
It is first important to note that the creator of the show herself is a woman – Shonda
Rhimes – so there would be no doubt that the show would not have any strong female character
(Imdb.com, 2018). However, it is not necessary to have a strong female-oriented show to be
created by a female only but this show is different because Shonda is not only a female but also a
strong black female. In one of her interviews, she was heard stating that she wanted to make a
show that she herself would want to watch (Oprah.com, 2018). In addition, she states that she
wanted it to be a show that would make the audience feels that people like them are also there in
the show. In terms of representing different genders, Grey’s Anatomy achieves new heights as
opposed to many of its contemporaries. Prior to dissecting the masculinity and femininity of the
lead characters as mentioned above, it is important to list out the characteristics that are usually
associated with men and women.
The traditional male traits include rough and tumble, high-status job, athletic, supports
family financially, active, powerful, unemotional, confident and rational amongst others. as
opposed to it, females are supposed to be sweet, tender, pretty, supportive, sensitive, low-status
job, supports family emotionally, emotional, dependent, irrational and so on.
In the television show, the lead characters have shattered most of these traditional traits.
Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey has been portrayed as a strong independent woman, who joins
as an intern at the hospital to support her family. She does not have the traditional feminine traits
such as being irrational, tender and dependent. However, she does have traits such as pretty face,
sweet and a low-status job of an intern. She is sensitive, patient and emotional.
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