








































A Dissection of Grey’s Anatomy


A Dissection of Grey’s Anatomy 
 
 

Danielle Barrios 
Department of Sociology 

California State University, Los Angeles 
 
 

This paper, qualitative study, used field observation to acquire data 
and published data to assert findings. The author watched a 
ubiquitously popular television show in the United States and 
compared results from a 2003 book entitled “Women, Men and 
Society,” in which authors found a disproportionate amount of 
female television roles to be sexualized and only cast by good looks, 
to find a linkage between statistical facts of the turn of the century 
and current findings based on past data. This paper observed four 
episodes and analyzed all major stereotypical roles ascribed to each 
actor and later the author compared data in a 2003 book. 
 

 

Television questionably ful-fills a niche 
in our everyday lives. Renzetti and 
Curran (2003) report that the average 
American spends more time watching 
television than any other leisure activity-
more than socializing, reading, or 
participating in outdoor activities 
combined. In 2000, it was estimated that 
Americans per capita watch 1591 hours 
of television (Renzetti and Curran 2003). 
While these statistics are quite alarming, 
perhaps the substantial amount of time 
we reserve for television viewing can be 
considered less of a surprise if we are to 
consider some of the special reasons for 
its appeal.  1Television can be watched 
at little or no cost, as well as requiring 
no skills or expertise to watch, and is 

                                                 
1  Danielle Barrios is an undergraduate 
student at the Department of Sociology, 
California State University.  Her paper 
was initially submitted to Soc. 341 The 
Sociology of Gender Roles taught by 
professor Janet Lever  in Spring of 2008. 

readily accessible to watch without 
leaving the comfort of one’s own home 
(Renzetti and Curran 2003). 

Television’s ubiquitous avail-
ability makes it an effective medium of 
socialization; it is accessible to everyone 
regardless of their age, sexual 
orientation, class, race, and geographic 
location, therefore every-one is exposed 
and susceptible to the same visual and 
verbal social messages.  Thus, the 
unsuspicious universality of television 
mediates its role as a pivotal agent of 
socialization as it exerts a powerful 
influence in shaping gender roles. 
Television has long been accused of 
espousing negative social messages by 
reinforcing stereotypical gender traits 
and behaviors (Renzetti and Curran 
2003).  In order to further investigate 
this claim, it is important to evaluate the 
content and the messages television 
broadcasts to its viewers.  

I will use content analysis to 
evaluate “Grey’s Anatomy”. Starting 

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GREY’S ANATOMY by Danielle Barrios 59

with face value, the prestigious career 
statuses’ of the cast characters, which 
not only includes both men and women 
but also individuals of different ethnic 
backgrounds, makes a case for its 
progressiveness; this superficial 
observation will be put to the test. 
“Grey’s Anatomy” airs on ABC 
Thursdays nights at 9 pm and is 
currently in its 4th season.  While I am an 
avid watcher of the show beginning in 
its 2nd season, I have chosen to evaluate  
four more recent episodes, starting with 
4.9 “Crash into Me—Part 1”, 4.10 
“Crash into Me—Part 2”, 4.12 “Where 
the Wild Things Are”, and 4.13 “Piece 
of My Heart”. 

“Grey’s Anatomy” chronicles the 
lives both personal and professional— of 
a group of surgical interns and their 
supervisors face as hospital staff on a 
daily basis. The show specifically 
focuses on a group of five interns: 
Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Isobel 
“Izzie” Stevens, Alex Karev, and George 
O’Malley, as they navigate their way 
through the residency program at the 
fictional Seattle Grace Medical Center.  
Their supervisors include the Chief of 
Surgery, Dr. Richard Webber, the 
various attending surgeons, Dr. Derek 
Shepard, Dr. Erica Hahn, and Dr. Mark 
Sloan, as well as  the senior residents; 
Dr. Miranda Bailey and Dr. Callie 
Torres. Although the plot of the show is 
based truly on its collection of cast 
members, the show’s name and the fact 
that every show begins with a voice-over 
conducted by Meredith Grey seems to 
suggest she is the protagonist of the 
show. While the interns, with exception 
of George, have been promoted to 
second-year residents in the 4th season, 
Lexie Grey, Meredith’s half-sister and a 

current first-year intern also has a 
recurring role this season; most likely 
due to her close relationship with 
Meredith. 

Such a large cast necessitates a 
few disparate plot lines; the current 
major plotlines include Meredith and 
Derek’s efforts to cope with the 
consequences of their break-up, Callie’s 
newfound friendship with Dr. Hahn, 
Alex’s convoluted romantic relationship 
with married former patient Rebecca, 
and Christina’s unappreciated endeavors 
to win Dr. Hahn’s good graces in her 
pursuit to practice cardiothoracic 
surgery.  
 An examination of gender role 
messages presented in this show will be 
evinced including presence and 
appearance/age of the male and female 
characters and the gender stereotypes 
conveyed by the show’s authors. 
 According to Women, Men, and 
Society, women characters on prime-
time television account for 39% of all 
major characters (Renzetti & Curran 
2003). In order to evaluate this finding 
for this particular show, I have defined 
all major characters as those characters 
that were present in least three out of the 
four episodes I analyzed. With this 
particular definition in mind, there are a 
total of 14 major characters: five are 
male and nine are female.  Thus, the 
books findings do not hold true for this 
particular show: women account for 64.3 
% of all major characters.  

In keeping with the show’s 
medical theme, the hospital is the major 
hub of the action.  As medical pro-
fessionals, all of the major characters are 
shown at work and are shown to be 
equally competent in their roles—that is, 
each character is shown working, inter-

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GREY’S ANATOMY by Danielle Barrios 60

acting with patients, and performing 
medical procedures. Interestingly, while 
there are more female major characters, 
the positions of power and authority are 
disproportionately held by men.  For 
example, three out of the four attending 
surgeons, including the Chief of 
Surgery, are men. However, while males 
occupy the top of the hierarchy, and are 
depicted as being incredibly skilled (as 
they should be for surgeons of their 
caliber), they resolve less of the surgical 
issues. Indeed, problem solving is 
equally divided between men and 
women and for the most part, it is 
collaborative. For example, in episode 
4.10, an important piece of neurosurgical 
navigational equipment has crashed. The 
nurse, Rose, with her limited knowledge 
of computer science, identifies a 
problem involving the wires but cannot 
connect them together correctly due to 
what she claims are her “shaky hands”.  
Dr. Shepard, the neurosurgeon, then 
steps in to fix the problem as he has 
famously steady hands— with being a 
neurosurgeon and all—and, indeed, once 
the wires are mitigated, the machine 
comes back to life.  Another such 
example exists in episodes 4.12 and 4.13 
when Meredith diagnoses a patient with 
a currently untreatable brain tumor and 
formulates a radical treatment plan in the 
form of a clinical trial. However, being a 
less experienced resident, she needs the 
attending neurosurgeon to approve the 
plan and perform this new surgery, all of 
which Dr. Shepard executes.  While it is 
not lost on me that the above two 
examples could be construed to mean 
that, while a woman is more than 
capable of identifying a problem, a man 
is needed to “finish the job”. I have 
watched enough episodes of this show to 

know that such a claim is not 
representative of the show as a whole, 
and many examples exist where a 
woman is completely capable of 
“finishing the job”; this situation was 
just not evident in the four analyzed 
shows. Invariably and realistically, most 
of the surgeries featured on the show are 
truly synergistic efforts on the part of the 
medical team, which consists of any 
proportion of attending surgeons, res-
idents, interns, and nurses, both male 
and female. 
 Women, Men, and Society also 
report that female characters are more 
likely to be thin or physically attractive; 
specifically, 46% of women compared 
with just 16% of men are thin or very 
thin (Renzetti &. Curran 2003). This 
finding does not coincide with my 
findings for “Grey’s Anatomy”. Of the 9 
female characters, 6 are thin or very thin 
(67%). If we take this finding alone, it 
would seem that it parallels the book’s 
finding.  However, of the 5 male 
characters, 3 are athletic /physically fit 
(60%).  Interestingly, the males’ 
physical appearances are emphasized by 
the charming monikers of Dr. Mc 
Dreamy and Dr. Mc Steamy, attributed 
to Dr. Shepard and Dr. Sloan, re-
spectively. Thus, for this show, while it 
is true that a large proportion of females 
are physically thin, it would seem that 
the standard of attractiveness in terms of 
physical body types is applied equally to 
members of both sexes.  
 The book relates that the 
characters played by women are, on 
average, younger.  Two-thirds of female 
characters are in their twenties and 
thirties, while 12% are in their forties; 
22% of male characters are in their 
forties for prime-time television 

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GREY’S ANATOMY by Danielle Barrios 61

(Renzetti & Curran 2003). Based on my 
observations primarily of the 
appearances of ‘Grey’s Anatomy” cast 
members my findings parallels the 
authors findings: 77% of major female 
characters are in their twenties and 
thirties whereas a substantially smaller 
proportion (22%) are in their forties.  A 
greater proportion of males (60%) are in 
their forties or older. On the whole, the 
male cast of characters reflect a wider 
age range (i.e. the youngest men are in 
their late twenties and the oldest man is 
in his late fifties) with the proportion of 
males in each age category being fairly 
equal—that is, two men are in their 
twenties and thirties, two men are in 
their forties, and one man is in his fifties. 
For the female characters, the age range 
is narrower; no female character is 
shown older than her forties.  A 
comparison of the number of women in 
each age category reveals a severe 
imbalance with a significantly greater 
number of women in their twenties or 
thirties. 

The book also reports that gender 
stereotypes are prevalent in television. 
According to this study’s analysis, 
“Grey’s Anatomy” is rather variable in 
propagating and dispelling these stereo-
types. For example, males are 
stereotyped as being chauvinistic 
womanizers.  The characters of Alex 
Karev and Dr. Sloan certainly live up to 
this reputation.  Alex sleeps around and, 
in episode 4.11, he juggles two 
girlfriends.  Dr. Sloan is portrayed as 
promiscuous; indeed one character refers 
to him as a man-whore. However, this 
blatant reinforcement of gender stereo-
typical behavior is tempered by the 
presence of Dr. Shepard, a man who 
wants to settle down and get married, 

which challenges the stereotype.  The 
show also opposes the stereotype’s 
applicability to men only by depicting 
the women as equally apt to sleep 
around.  Christina and Meredith 
proclaim that they “screw boys like 
whores on tequila”. 

The show preserves the female 
“bossy boss” and male leader 
dichotomy. To get what they want, the 
women in positions of power are 
authoritarian.  Dr. Erica Hahn’s constant 
sarcasm and arrogance render her cold, 
imperious, and rude.  Knowing Christina 
Yang’s penchant for forging intimate 
relationships with her male super-
visors/mentors, Dr. Hahn bluntly 
informs Christina that she cannot be 
manipulated when Christina attempts to 
get on her good side.   Dr. Miranda 
Bailey, the chief resident, is well-
meaning but most definitely bossy.  She 
is collectively referred to as the “Nazi”, 
probably a direct reference to her strict 
regime and unwavering demands and 
expectations. Conversely, Dr. Webber, 
the Chief of Surgery, is portrayed as a 
true leader, benevolent and omniscient. 
His mentor-like qualities render him 
likeable and approachable to his 
colleagues and subordinates alike.  Thus, 
the negative portrayal of female 
bossiness shows that, while women can 
assert their power and gain respect, they 
are punished for their behavior. 
 Females are reputed to be more 
consumed with discussing romantic life 
and relationships, and for the most part, 
this stereotype is maintained.  Meredith 
and Christina rarely often conduct 
“shrink sessions”—that is, Christina 
plays the shrink while Meredith talks out 
her problems—that revolve around 
Meredith’s relationship or lack thereof 

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GREY’S ANATOMY by Danielle Barrios 62

with Dr. Shepard. Rebecca keeps 
returning to the hospital because she 
always “wants to talk” and sort out her 
relationship with Alex, but is continually 
rebuffed. The show moves away from 
the stereotype in that it also shows men 
engaging in relationship discussions.  
Just as Meredith continuously talks 
about her relationship with Derek to 
Christina, Derek also extensively 
discusses the details of his relationship 
with Meredith, most notably with Dr. 
Sloan or George. 

Interestingly, the show also 
presents a woman as the breadwinner in 
the family.   Miranda Bailey is shown as 
a workaholic, so much so that her 
husband becomes a stay-at-home dad to 
raise their son. A recurring plotline 
delineates her husband’s mounting 
resentment of her career and her constant 
absence from the home and frustration 
with what he perceives to be his limited 
role, which severely strains their 
relationship and culminates in their 
estrangement.   So, while the show 
presents the possibility of a wife in 
capacity of the primary money-maker, it 
certainly does not paint it as a positive 
experience.   

Additionally, the races of the 
characters of the characters were 
evaluated in the context of the book 
finding that minorities are still under-
represented in television.  Women, Men, 
and Society noted over 80% of 
characters on prime-time television are 
White, 12% are Black, 2% are Asian and 
1% are Hispanic (Renzetti & Curran 
2003). Of the fourteen major characters, 
ten are Caucasian (71%), two are 
African-American (14%), one is Asian 
American (7%), and one is Hispanic 
American (7%), which are greater than 

the book’s statistics. Despite their under 
representation, these minority characters 
occupy positions of power—specifically, 
Richard and Miranda who are African-
American and are Chief of Surgery and 
chief resident-respectively.  Callie 
Torres is Latina and is a senior resident, 
Christina Yang is Asian and is the most 
skilled and technically competent 2nd 
year resident—and contributes 
significantly to the plot development of 
each episode.  
 The findings derived from my 
analysis of “Grey’s Anatomy” do not 
reflect the findings found in Women, 
Men, and Society. There are nearly twice 
as many major female characters than 
male characters.  While a greater 
proportion of males are in positions of 
authority, problem solving is divided 
equitably between women and men. In 
general, male and female characters are 
held to similar standards of physical 
fitness, although men are given more 
leeway in terms of age. Although the 
show does mediate the prominence of 
gender stereotypes in television, it does 
convey messages that resist these 
stereotypes.  It perpetuates the stereotype 
of rampant male sexuality, and 
reinforces the “bossy boss-leader” 
binary. Nonetheless, the show also 
presents promiscuous females, sensitive 
open to relationships problems males, 
and a woman as a primary bread winner. 
In addition, while minorities are still 
underrepresented, the ethnic characters’ 
on this particular show offer positions of 
power which maximize their 
contributions to each episode. 

“Grey’s Anatomy” conveys 
social gender messages: both men and 
women are competent and can solve 
problems; both men and women can 

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63

attain power and authority, while men 
are reputed to be promiscuous women 
can also be promiscuous; while women 
are more concerned with relationships 
and do discuss them, men can also 
actively discuss relationships.  In the 
end, the show does not dispel any gender 
stereotypical behaviors in that it does 
portray a particular gender as possessing 
its stereotypical trait; rather, the show 
conveys that the trait or behavior is not 
limited to   only one sex.  Females and  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
males are completely capable of doing 
what the other sex does, and by showing 
that women and men are not different at 
all, “Grey’s Anatomy” is progressive. 

 
REFERENCES 
 
Renzetti, Claire and Daniel Curran. 

1995. Women, Men, and Society. 
5th ed. Boston: Pearson Edu-
cation Inc. 

 


