What am I referring to? The triad that consists of Callie Torres, Arizona: “The requisite self loathing lesbian” and Mark Sloane of Grey’s Anatomy.
I know, I know. I previously wrote that I was going to stop watching Grey’s Anatomy because it presents a dangerously false image of lesbians by normalizing Callie Torres’ emotionally abusive behavior and Arizona as being so desperate for love that she will accept a secondary position, or (once the baby is born) a tertiary or 3rd position in Callie’s life).
Then I see sites like AfterEllen or Dorothy Surrenders attempting to normalize the archetype of the ”Self Loathing Lesbian”: An individual with self esteem that is so low that she doesn’t feel that she is worthy of receiving 100% of her partner’s devotion so is willing to only accept 50%.
This is NOT a rant against bisexuality but instead a complaint that sites that have 1000s of followers (who proudly post their profile photos on those sites as badges of honor) and how they mislead their followers by implying that it’s Okay to settle for 2nd best, or Callie Torres’ bullying behavior.
Just think about it: When Mark Sloane told Lexie about his impending fatherhood her reaction was to retain her dignity at his deception. Lexie may now be having second thoughts, but she still made a stand.
Conversely Arizona allowed Callie Torres to bully her into accepting her betrayal, bisexuality and subsequent pregnancy.
I mean in what universe does a sharp, intelligent and beautiful doctor like Arizona settle for for a selfish, demanding, promiscuous woman like Dr. Calliope Torres who’s emotionally immature to boot? We don’t even see what qualities make Callie so “lovable” to Arizona.
Hell I’ve dated surgeons and they’re smart, but even the dumbest doctor I ever dated was a scholar compared to Dr. Calliope “I can’t figure life out” Torres.
Shame of Shonda Rhimes, AfterEllen and Dorothy Surrenders for failing once again to provide leadership to young lesbians.