Page - 43 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

42 | Sharon Lauricella and Hannah M. Scott www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 39–53 pulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”.18 Rich argues that the perva- sive cultural understandings of sex, gender, and sexual desire have culminated in a social requirement for what Rich calls “compulsory heterosexuality”. Rich suggests that heterosexuality is presumed to be a “‘sexual preference’ of ‘most women’”19 and this assumption is essential in understanding how and why women – consciously or not – accept, and even embrace, heteronormativity. Rich explains that patriarchal norms have operated so as to convince women that marriage and physical and social attachment to men are inevitable, “even in unsatisfying and oppressive components of their lives”.20 Heteronormativity, in its cultural dominance, thus keeps the “heterosexual matrix” of sex, gender, and sexual desire intact.21 Given that Grey’s Anatomy depicts lesbian relation- ships and a wedding (Season 7, Episode 20), this analysis of the program consid- ers how compulsory heterosexuality is supported, rejected, and navigated in this scripted drama. The following research questions are addressed in this project: (1) How is religion incorporated into weddings in Grey’s Anatomy? (2) How do weddings in Grey’s Anatomy support normative female gender per- formance and compulsory heterosexuality? (3) How do weddings in Grey’s Anatomy challenge female gender performance and compulsory heterosexuality? These research questions help to address the relationship between and amongst religiosity and gender performance, roles, and heteronormativity in weddings portrayed in this scripted drama. METHOD To answer the research questions, a combination of content analysis and grounded theory was employed. The 14 weddings depicted in the program were analyzed via a combination of deductive and inductive data methodolo- gies. Weddings which occurred in the storyline but were not explicitly shown in the drama were not included in this analysis. Content analysis methods were used to identify the predetermined, deduc- tive category of religiosity. This category was assessed by means of ceremoni- al wording, artifacts/rituals, venue, and officiant. Level of religiosity was mea- sured on a three-step scale:22 not at all religious, somewhat religious, and very 18 Rich 1980, 631–660. 19 Rich 1980, 633. 20 Rich 1980, 640. 21 Butler 1990, 151. 22 Engstrom/Semic 2003, 145–163.