Callie Torres: A Superstar with a Scalpel

Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama series that has aired on ABC since 2005 and continues to air today. The show concentrates on a group of doctors that work at Seattle Grace Hospital, now known as Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, in Seattle, Washington. The characters are diverse when it comes to their race, age, and sexuality. One main character includes Callie Torres, the head orthopedic surgeon and board member of the hospital. When Callie began on the show she married George O’Malley, a main male character. However, she soon divorced George and married Arizona Robbins in later seasons, and then also divorced Arizona. Callie has many romantic relationships throughout the series whether it is with men or women; Callie is a bisexual character. This clip attached is from Season 5, Episode 7 in which Callie is single and has a romantic relationship with another woman at the hospital, Erica Hahn. Erica Hahn stated that she was a total lesbian yet this scared Callie because she is bisexual. Hahn states, “You can’t kind of be a lesbian” ("Mark & Derek / Callie & Erica," 2011). This is where it gets confusing in the relationship and the characters question themselves.

I immediately thought of Callie Torres when reading Information-Seeking Practices during the Sexual Development of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: The Influence and Effects of Coming Out in a Mediated Environment. In this study, bisexual participants were extremely critical of the media and LGBT overall experienced barriers when getting the information they needed from the media. There are two quotes that grabbed my attention about the way in which the media gives misinformation about bisexuals and the way bisexuals are portrayed as indecisive or oversexed. It is interesting because Callie is portrayed as indecisive at the beginning of the series when she is confused about her sexuality yet this soon changes. Callie owns her sexuality and although she goes back and forth between males and females in every season, she is always committed to her current partner no matter what their gender is. Callie Torres plays an important role in trying to clarify to the viewers what it means to be bisexual. While other characters believe she cannot be partly straight and partly a lesbian, Callie defends her sexuality and ultimately learns to become proud of it. Throughout each of Callie’s relationships she expresses the complexity of her sexuality. Watching this television series led me to understand what might be going on in someone’s mind and life that is bisexual. This leads me to question if this television series only helps those who are straight to understand bisexuality and doesn’t help bisexuals or if it helps everyone. This question arose because Grey’s Anatomy began in 2005 and this paper was published in 2008. Did the participants never see Grey’s Anatomy? Was the research done prior to the beginning of Grey’s Anatomy? Does Callie Torres not portray a bisexual being realistically? There are many questions that need more research in order to further understand this topic.

Grey’s Anatomy is a series that I find to cover many of the aspects that Uncommonly Good: Exploring How Mass Media May Be a Positive Influence on Young Women’s Sexual Health and Development would like for mainstream media content to include. As explained above, Callie is an example of a woman who questions her own sexuality and is a three-dimensional portrayal of bisexuals. Her physical appearance is not the typical skinny main character. Callie embraces her curves and uses them as power! She is an amazing surgeon and she is a physically and emotionally strong character. Callie is extremely sexual and communicates with her partners about sex constantly as well as finds the pleasure in sex, as most of the characters do. This article was published in 2006, and the research was done earlier than the article was published. Therefore I wonder if the 10 points the article states that mainstream media content should include have been covered in these past years since the research was done and the article was written. I certainly see many of these points covered in television shows I watch.  

  

Reference:

Bond, Bradley, Hefner, Veronica, Drogos, Kristin. "Formation-Seeking Practices during the Sexual Development of Lesbian, Gay, and Bi-Sexual Individuals: The Influence and Effects of Coming Out in a Mediated Environment" December 2008. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2008

Mark & Derek / Callie & Erica (Season 5 Episode 7). (2011, April 20). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQdZXexgJDU

Ward, L., Day, K., & Epstein, M. (2006). Uncommonly good: Exploring how mass media may be a positive influence on young women's sexual health and development. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, (112), 57-70.