I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy since it first came on air. Well, that’s not true. I started watching it because my sister-in-law, a nurse, mentioned it, and, at the time, she really enjoyed it. And I did, too, at first.

My enjoyment of it was purely because of Patrick Dempsey. We had grown up together (well, not together, but at the same time). I watched him in his earlier movies when he was cute, but also a bit geeky. Now he’s McDreamy. Whoa.

My disillusionment with it has come because of inequities portrayed in the program. Out of the main couples (Meredith/Derek, Lexie/Mark, Izzie/Alex, Cristine/Owen, and Arizona/Callie), three are older, established male doctors engaging with younger female residents. There isn’t a case of an older established female doctor engaging with a younger male resident (but, to be fair, that did occur when George was married to Callie).

Ok, I know this is only a television show. But so often what I see portrayed on television is what I see occurring off-screen. There are inequities that seem to be ok in portraying and even celebrating.

This could simply be a case of the older me finding most television problematic. But I think it’s also a case of the older me recognizing that older women are not considered desirable in pop culture (and don’t even get me started on Cougartown, one of the most irritating programs I’ve wasted 23 minutes on lately).

Ok. Three minute rant over.

For now.