Analysis of Gender Representations in Grey's Anatomy

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of gender representations in the television series Grey's Anatomy. It begins with a brief overview of the show, highlighting its popularity and key characters such as Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd. The essay then delves into a discussion of how the show portrays both traditional and non-traditional gender traits, challenging stereotypes associated with masculinity and femininity. The analysis considers the influence of the show's creator, Shonda Rhimes, and examines the characteristics of both male and female characters, including Izzie Stevens, Denny Duquette, and Dr. Fin Dandridge. The essay concludes that the show successfully presents complex representations of gender, showcasing characters who defy conventional expectations and demonstrating the emotional and professional complexities of different genders. The essay uses references from reputable sources such as Imdb.com and Oprah.com to support its claims.

Running head: GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN GREY’S ANATOMY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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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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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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Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd on the other hand, is an embodiment of all the
male traits that are traditionally associated to men. Derek grew up as a fatherless child and yet
managed to become one of the best surgeons in a reputed hospital. This shows his tough, strong
and powerful attitude. He is also rough and tumbles as is evident from the lines, “I am a surgeon
and I don’t have any friends”. Further male characteristics that Derek possesses include high
status-job, in charge at work and competent. However, he defies the traditional traits when
audiences discover his emotional side. His wife cheated Derek with his best friend, Dr. Mark
Sloan (played by Eric Dane) and he struggles to deal with it, thus portraying an emotional side.
Katherine Heigl, who portrayed the role of Izzie Stevens, on the surface, has traditional
female traits; she is pretty, sweet and pleasant. However, a deeper analysis of her character
reveals that she has had a tough childhood, with the responsibility of looking after her mother
and herself at a very tender age. She demonstrated predominantly male character traits such as
supporting family financially.
Another interesting character of the show is that of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who essayed
the role of Denny Duquette, a heart patient undergoing treatment at the Grey Sloan Memorial.
Denny, prior to his illness, had every trait of male character listed above; he was athletic, active,
tough, rational and adventurous. He loves travelling, cooking, and shared his hopes of going
back to doing those after he recovers. The makers also churned out some of the female traits
from Denny by showing him as an emotional, sensitive, dependent and sweet man who makes
everyone happy by his warmth and care.
The last major character is that of Dr. Fin Dandridge, portrayed by Chris O’Donnell that
has some interesting mix of male and female character traits. He had a great personality during

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his high school days and even was the prom king. He has many hobbies of which, fishing is one
of his favorites. These facts reveal his male traits, which are adventurous and active. He has no
family but he is independent as he is a veterinarian and earns good. Nonetheless, he has an
emotional side as well, which is revealed through the fact that he had lost his wife in a car
accident but had not been able to forget her.
Another character, “the Nazi” (played by Miranda Bailey) is also interesting in that she
demonstrates majority of male traits. She is tough, harsh, active and devoid of emotions. She
supports her family financially and has a high-status job of a resident surgeon with interns under
her command.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be seen from the above analysis that all the major characters in the show
represented different shades of gender. While the female characters had some masculine traits,
the male characters also had some feminine traits. The show nicely put forth the complexities of
every gender. It succeeded in showing that women are not essentially dependent on men, either
financially or emotionally. In addition, the show managed to portray the men, not all, being
dependent on women for love, care and support. Further analysis of other characters from the
show is suggested to understand more about gender representations in television shows.

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References:
Imdb.com. (2018). Grey's Anatomy (TV Series 2005– ). Retrieved from
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413573/
Oprah.com. (2018). Oprah Talks to Shonda Rhimes. Retrieved from
https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/oprah-interviews-greys-anatomy-creator-shonda-
rhimes_2/3