Calliope Torres is Grey’s Anatomy’s best character: she’s beautiful, her surgical skills are bodacious, and she’s unashamedly bisexual. Plus, whenever she’s home alone, Callie (that’s her nickname on the show) dances around her living room in her underwear! Basically, she’s a self-loving orthopedic surgeon, badass.
When the audience first meet Callie Torres, she is a senior resident specializing in bone surgery, but aside from that super admirable feat, they discover that Callie is secretly living in the basement of the Seattle Grace Hospital. In learning this, we feel a special connection with her character because she outwardly appears responsible and grown up, but secretly, her life is hardly put together, and as a college student-- nay, as a human being, we too feel that way.
The first relationship that any binge-watcher of the show sees her enter into is with George O’Malley. Faster than expected, Callie and George get married. Of course, their marriage falls apart quickly when George cheats on her, but she does attempt to fight for their love. Ultimately though, it ends. However, her willingness to try and love her husband despite his adultery is commendable too; that’s Beyonce status.
Later, Callie discovers that she is also sexually attracted to women when she develops feelings for another female doctor: Erica Hahn. The two have a sexual encounter and awaken a side of their sexuality that they had not been fully aware of before. However, Callie is aware that she still enjoys sex with men (like George and her best friend, Mark Sloan), so ultimately, she decides to label herself a bisexual. Erica, on the other hand, realizes that she is a lesbian. This leads to an argument that ends their relationship.
In regards to Callie’s bisexuality, she says, “You can’t kind of be a lesbian,” and Dr. Hahn breaks Torres’ heart (which is ironic since she’s a Cardiothoracic surgeon). However, witnessing this scene as a bisexual myself not only validated my own sexuality, but also allowed me to further respect myself as a bisexual because in response to Dr. Hahn, Callie becomes more secure in her identity as a bisexual woman.
But that’s not where my love for Callie Torres ends. Next, she enters into a relationship with Arizona Robbins, a lesbian, pediatric surgeon at the hospital. They are debatably one of the cutest couples that has ever existed on the show, but like all couples, the two of them fight.
Once, when they temporarily separate, Callie hooks up with Mark Sloan, illustrating that bisexuality is not an interim sexuality that sexually indecisive people choose until they settle down or discover the gender of their “soulmate” because soon enough, Arizona and Callie get back together and marry.
In addition to bisexuality, the night she sleeps with Sloan (and Callie Torres’ character as a whole) also portrays the potentially positive experience of diverse family structures. Unknowingly, Callie becomes pregnant from sleeping with Mark, and because her and Arizona are in love and reconcile, they decide to raise the daughter together with Mark. Thus, their family structure is “unconventional” but the two mothers and father raise Sofia successfully.
Amidst this, there are a few episodes in which Callie’s religious father rebukes her queer identity because it a sin, but Torres fights back. Being a queer Christian myself, it was awe inspiring to watch this character tell her father that on top of being bisexual, she still loves Jesus, and she wouldn’t let her dad’s condemnation shift that perspective.
Finally, Callie is ultimately my hero because she busts the myth that bisexual people are more likely to cheat on their spouses. In fact, Callie’s marriages both fail as a result of her straight husband and lesbian wife cheating on her. Her character undermines that stereotype, and because of that, I look up to Callie as my bisexual goddess.
Callie Torres is a wonderful representation of the bisexual community. She’s a well accomplished doctor/adult (especially after she moves out of the hospital and into an actual home). Callie fights for her patients, she fights for those that she loves, and most importantly, she fights for herself. She lets others know that bisexuality and her lifestyle is valid.
