Page - 52 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/02

Anatomy of a Wedding | 51www.jrfm.eu 2018, 4/2, 39–53 the brides both wear white and enjoy a ceremony which is similar to a hetero- normative wedding in all ways except in having two brides. The interplay amongst gender performance, feminism, sexuality, and reli- gion in Grey’s Anatomy is particularly visible in the weddings depicted in the drama. An equal number of weddings were not at all religious and somewhat religious, while only one was considered very religious (and it was aborted at the altar). All of the female characters are both career-focused and feminist; thus it cannot be argued that a feminist framework or personal outlook is likely to result in a particular degree of religiosity in a wedding. Further, the one same- sex marriage, while not religious per se, is nevertheless notably traditional in its incorporation of white dresses, vows, the father-daughter dance, a veil, and rings. Overall, Grey’s Anatomy pays particular attention to “tradition” in its depiction of weddings, without necessarily including religious elements. The perpetuation of the “white wedding” trope in this program is in keeping with Ingraham’s media analysis43 which suggests that the image of the white wed- ding has become a powerful symbol of heteronormativity and traditional gen- der arrangements. We therefore suggest that a traditional wedding does not necessarily imply that it is religious in tone or purpose. Rather, a wedding which holds to traditional elements and expectations adheres to the idealized image of a bride in a white dress with a “perfect” day. Yet in contrast to Ingraham’s argument, this analysis shows that Grey’s Anatomy does very little to reinforce gender hierarchies given its unmistakable depiction of strong female characters together with a married lesbian couple. Exceptions to the traditional wedding trope are the two weddings of Mere- dith and Derek, who in both instances reject both religiosity and tradition. Again, this demonstrates that Grey’s Anatomy does not build upon the heteronorma- tive narrative in which gender roles are traditional and enforced. It would have been particularly interesting for viewers to have seen the wedding of April and Jackson, which was presented in the program as a flashback, without vows or details indicating the level of religiosity. This lack of detail meant this wedding could not be included in our analysis. Had this wedding been shown, it would have helped to illustrate the coexistence of tradition and religiosity in the wed- ding of a career-focused female with a strong religious background. In sum, the sociocultural expectations of gender performance and the perva- sive notion of compulsory heterosexuality as demonstrated in Grey’s Anatomy indicate tension and dissonance in individuals, groups, and scripted drama situ- ations. This analysis is consistent with Butler’s arguments44 that gender perfor- mance, while theoretically up to the individual, demands a particular level of 43 Ingraham 2008. 44 Butler 1990; Butler, 2009, i–xiii.