‘Grey’s Anatomy’: What’s going on with these women?
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I don’t know what condition of post-feminism we are currently living under (post-post-post perhaps), but after last night’s ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ I think everyone should scramble through their boxed-up college paperbacks and find their copies of ‘The Golden Notebook’ because we need to get back to basics, people.
The headliner of the episode was that, in time-honored fashion, Callie forgave the adulterous George and confronted Izzie, calling her a traitorous . . . rhymes with witch. ‘You did this to another woman,’ Callie said, blaming the woman who was not even her friend in the sentiments of 20,000 drink-and-dials. Indeed, it was George who had to explain to the suddenly, inexplicably spineless Callie that she didn’t really forgive him because what he did was unforgivable. In the words of Tracy Lord: ‘Aren’t men wonderful?’
Izzie, meanwhile, thought Callie’s request to meet in the cafeteria was a girl fight throw-down, which is just insane (Is this a hospital? Are they doctors?), but then Izzie has been gone from the rational part of this planet for so long there really is no point in discussing it. Again, it was up to a man -- this time, Alex -- to put things in perspective. When he found out about the George thing, he was justifiably disgusted and hurt -- Izzie could have had Alex, but she settled for George? After Denny? Izzie makes Meredith look like the healthiest girl on the block.
And that’s tough to do since Meredith was so busy twittering and twitching over the fact that Derek was ‘bonding’ with her stepsister Lexie that she allows her bumbling intern to inform the wrong patient that she is dying from cancer. She got a wrist-slap from Dr. McSteamy and a lecture from Derek, who told her once again that she is a child and he loves her but he isn’t quite sure he can wait for her to grow up.
If you think for a moment, this is exactly why many people argued against women becoming doctors or being in the workplace at all -- they are too emotional, they will only distract their male colleagues with damaging sexual affairs, and they can’t be serious professionals. In early ‘Grey’s,’ the women were a much more interesting mix of strength and weakness, with characters like Bailey, Cristina and Callie balancing the more broken personalities of Meredith and Izzie. Who, in the old days, were still actually interested in medicine and their careers as well as their love lives. But with Bailey inexplicably sidelined and Callie wandering around in a haze, there is not a single functioning female spine in view. Even Cristina is too busy abusing Lexie because of the Meredith connection to do her job -- teaching interns -- properly, as Derek (of course) reminded her in another male-on-female dress-down.
If only Callie could come out swinging, or Izzie get some therapy. Meredith and Lexie could duke it out and get their father into AA. Thankfully, Ava’s coming back. She’s one tough cookie, and we need some tough cookies. Because Lessing won the Nobel this year. And that has to mean something.
-- Mary McNamara
