Who here has heard of the Bechdel test?

[Everlong]

The Bechdel Test is as follows:

The Bechdel test asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

Originally conceived for evaluating films, the Bechdel test is now used as an indicator of gender bias in all forms of fiction. Almost half of all contemporary films fail the test, and critics have noted that the test is most informative when applied in the aggregate, because individual works may pass or fail the test for reasons unrelated to sexism.

Here's an official website with movies that pass/fail/partially pass the test: http://bechdeltest.com/

When you think about it, it's a lot harder to think of movies that pass than you would expect. Which should say something about the state of female roles in movies.

[Hanley!]

As someone who considers himself a feminist, and tends to be active in discussions about women in the media, I've heard a whole pile about the Bechdel test. I've had discussions about it often. It comes up more often than I'd like probably.

The Bechdel Test is a great way to demonstrate how underused and underwritten women are in films. The fact that so many movies fail the test is absolutely proof that we need to do better at representing women in media. But the test is only useful when it's examining trends. Applying it to individual films is reductive and unfair.

It didn't start as a test, it started as a comic strip and one character was just making the point that she would only watch films that featured two women having a conversation about something other than a man. It was supposed to be eye-opening. But it wasn't intended to be used to judge how sexist a film was or was not.

It always pains me to see people taking a pass/failure seriously for a particular film. There have been films that portray women perfectly that happen to not pass the test, due to being in the romance genre. And there are films that portray women terribly, as mere stereotypes or sex objects, that pass the test due to a two minute conversation that might feature some horribly offensive dialogue: just dialogue that isn't about a man.

I think people are realising that by now anyway, and are more careful in how they apply the test. I still think it's useful as a way of judging trends in films. If 20% of movies released in 2015 were to pass, and 50% of movies released in 2025 were to pass, I reckon that would indicate some real progress. But on a case by case basis the test is meaningless.

[Everlong]

But the test is only useful when it's examining trends. Applying it to individual films is reductive and unfair.

Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Just because a movie fails the test doesn't mean it's a bad movie or unfair to women, for sure.

It's just kind of interesting when you consider how many failures of the test that there are, when the requirements for passing the test are so simple.

[Hanley!]

good point. Just because a movie fails the test doesn't mean it's a bad movie or unfair to women, for sure.

It's just kind of interesting when you consider how many failures of the test that there are, when the requirements for passing the test are so simple.

Yeah, if you created an opposite test - one where a film needed to have two named men having a conversation about something other than a woman in order to pass - 99% of films would pass easily. Which does show you just how unbalanced things are at the moment.

Try telling that to any comment section on the internet though.

[Everlong]

Try telling that to any comment section on the internet though.

People get insane when it comes to discussions about any minority group on the internet in general. Someone on my Facebook the other night posted some article about rape and this one dude went on some tirade about "feminazis" being the death of our society

[Hanley!]

Try telling that to any comment section on the internet though.

People get insane when it comes to discussions about any minority group on the internet in general. Someone on my Facebook the other night posted some article about rape and this one dude went on some tirade about "feminazis" being the death of our society

I fell down the rabbit hole yesterday in a comment section on Cracked about feminism. I want those hours back, along with all those brain cells that exploded in frustration.

At least "feminazis" is a better term than the alternative: pretending that you're in favour of women's rights but using "feminist" only as a term to describe those women that you hate, rather than people in favour of women's rights. That does my nut in.

On a slightly more relevant note, Alison Bechdel (the woman who created the comic strip that the Bechdel Test is based on) wrote a memoir in graphic novel form. It's called Fun Home and I'd recommend it. Very interesting read.