“The what?”
There’s a link above, but basically to pass the Bechdel test a work of fiction must include at least two (named) women who talk to each other about something other than a man (some versions also include children and babies and say the women must have their own character arcs).
A scarily high number of books and films don’t pass this test.
A little more background for any of my followers who might be unfamiliar with this topic.
“The rules now known as the [Bechdel-Wallace] test first appeared in 1985 in Alison Bechdel’s comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For. In a strip titled ‘The Rule’, two women…discuss seeing a film and the black woman explains that she only goes to a movie if it satisfies the following requirements:
- The movie has to have at least two women in it,
- who talk to each other,
- about something besides a man.
The white woman acknowledges that the idea is pretty strict, but good. Not finding any films that meet their requirements, they go home together.
Originally meant as ‘a little lesbian joke in an alternative feminist newspaper,’ the test moved into mainstream criticism in the 2010s and has been described as ‘the standard by which feminist critics judge television, movies, books, and other media.’ In 2013, an Internet newspaper described it as ‘almost a household phrase, common shorthand to capture whether a film is woman-friendly.’ The failure of major Hollywood productions such as Pacific Rim (2013) to pass the test was addressed in depth in the media.” (x)
At first, it seems like a super simple, even laughable set of criteria to meet until you actually start applying it to the films you love, and realize the majority of them cannot meet it.
In October 2013
“four theaters in Sweden launched a new Bechdel-based rating system…To get an ‘A,’ the movie must pass the test. ‘The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, all Star Wars movies*, The Social Network, Pulp Fiction, and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test,’ said Ellen Tejle, the director of one of the participating theaters…” (x)At the same time, however, the test was not meant to be the last word in whether of not a film is ultimately female-friendly.
“Just look at the films released this year. Gravity, for example, fails the test completely. Sandra Bullock’s Ryan Stone is the only woman in the film. The enormously silly Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters passes with flying colors – as does Evil Dead…Thor: The Dark World is more complicated. Sure, Jane (Natalie Portman) and Darcy (Kat Dennings) speak to each other about science-y things – but if it’s all related to Thor, does it count?” (x)
As the previous user stated, other subjects besides men may not pass some versions of the test; subjects such as shopping, housekeeping, child-rearing, cosmetics, and other “gender-specific” interests. If Betty and Kelly have one conversation together in a 134 min long movie, and it’s about a cute dress they saw at the mall, can that discussion be considered equal in terms of what the male characters might be discussing? Do the female characters only get to discuss things outside of this female bubble if they discuss them with men?
This is not to say all media must contain two named women discussing something other than a man, or that any media that does not is sexist and wrong, but when the majority of media does not contain this, it becomes unsettling and, frankly, disappointing. If it is such a laughably low bar to meet, practically meaningless in terms of true equality, then why can’t some of the biggest influences in modern media achieve it?
For novelists who follow me: I haven’t read much about using this test on literature. Since it was never meant to be put to the test itself, it’s more useful as food-for-thought when creating your own story. Do your female characters have meaningful discussions with each other? Are they as fleshed out as the male characters (and are your male characters as three-dimensional as your female characters)? There’s no need to start asking frivolous things of yourself like “Am I sexist for having written such-and-such this way?” but consider always whether or not your characters interact the way people do in real life.
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*The test was conducted before The Force Awakens was released.