Think about your favorite movie. Now, does this movie have at least two named female characters? Do these women talk to each other? Do they talk to each other about something other than a man? If you said yes to all these questions then congrats, your favorite work of fiction has officially passed the Bechdel Test!
The Bechdel Test was named after cartoonist Alison Bechdel who laid out the test’s rules in her comic strip in 1985. While the comic was using the test on movies, it can be applied to other forms of art. The rules of the test are relatively simple:
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There has to be at least two women in the work (the condition that they have to be named is sometimes included)
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These women have to talk to each other
- About something else besides a man
Why is the Bechdel Test important? While the test is far from scientifically based, it does point out a serious issue: Women are underrepresented in film and when they are represented it’s often as an accessory or sidekick to a male character. Lack of female representation in film seems to be saying that women are not interesting enough to be portrayed on screen, unless they’re talking about man. If life is supposed to imitate art shouldn’t women be portrayed in way that realistically captures their diversity, strength, ability, intelligence, humor and independence. If that, for some reason, is too much to ask for, can’t we at least get the courtesy of being named?
The Bechdel test is, if anything, a call for change. Perhaps the future artists of the world will take notice and represent women in the way they so deserve to be.