[a little old…guess who finally, finally, got to be Chief of Surgery!]
Why didn’t Bailey get the Chief of Surgery position?
For the same reason Ed jokingly says to Greg, in a Flashpoint episode, when he questions his rank, “Should I get you a dress?”—and they both laugh.
Because in 2012 being a woman is (still) (STILL!) (STILL!) (STILL!) being subordinate.
I love that on Grey’s Anatomy, so many main characters, surgeons every one of them – are women. Actually they outnumber the men. 8:6. And yet Owen gets the Chief position. Richard, then Derek, then Owen. 3 of the 6 men get to be Chief. 0 of the 8 women. Bailey’s been there longer than Owen. And longer than Sloan, the other contender. And yeah, okay, Kepner got the Chief Resident position even though she was there longer than Karev, but he didn’t want it. (And we see it primarily a position of responsibility, not power.) At one point, the Chief (Webber) said he was grooming Bailey for Chief of Surgery—what happened?
And Sam gets to be team leader in Ed’s absence. Not Jules. Again, she has more seniority on the team. And is just as competent (if not more so—she can shoot and she can negotiate a crisis).
This is why I stick to my Cagney and Lacey, Murphy Brown, and Commander-in-Chief reruns.
(We’re going in the wrong direction, people.) (And just when did we turn around?)
