Insidious Sexism in House

thete1 has been posting about House a lot recently, and in one post (which I can't find again, dammit) she made a comment about the stupid sexism in the show: low-cut blouses on Cuddy and four-inch heels on Cameron, and the like. (ETA: I couldn't find it at thete1's lj because it was actually cesperanza, in her own journal.) For better or for worse, I think I'm inured to that on television at this point - my brain says "Yes, this is FOX (read: network television). Women will wear inappropriate clothing. No matter where they are or what they do, they're gonna have cleavage and legs." And when I've bothered to think about it, it's gone from horribly annoying to mildly annoying to almost ridiculously funny in the meta-ness of it. "Boobs in the operating room! Titties in the law firm! Funbags in the police precinct!"

But there's a sexism in House that's less obvious, and it's been bothering me in a low-level way for a while. I hesitated to bring it up, because I wanted it to be clear first that I don't hate the show or think people shouldn't watch it. I think my position on the show is obvious by now. :) And I think I can point to something for further discussion without giving the impression that this is my sum total feeling about the program. We argh because we love.

( The writers appear to have a problem with the power imbalance of doctor/patient and gender. )