The Bechdel Test

[megumidesu]

the bechdel test (named after alison bechdel) is a test (shocking) that consists of three very simple criteria to assess gender bias and female presence in film . it can also be applied to books , television shows , and various other media ~

the criteria are :

1 - the film (or tv show , etc) must have at least two named female characters

(you'd be pretty surprised how many films fail the test on this first one)

2 - the two or more female characters must talk to each other

(this is where the majority of films fail. and there is some debate with various films about whether or not a one line exchange between two women means it can pass this step . i don't think it does...)

3 - the conversation between the female characters must be about something other than a man

(this one gets a lot of films that pass the first two )

if a film fails the test , that doesn't mean it's a bad movie , or an anti-feminist movie . just as films that pass are not automatically good , feminist movies . the "sex and the city" movies pass , for example , and the portrayal of women in those is pretty horrific .
the test shows the disproportionate number of male characters when compared to female , and how , in many films , the female characters only exist to further the plot for a male hero (he's usually white and usually straight).

some examples of films that do not pass the test :

the dark knight rises
district 9
the bourne films
transformers
ghostbusters
the big lebowski
the pirates of the caribbean films
fight club
the shawshank redemption
lord of the rings
braveheart
toy story
x men
tomb raider
home alone
up

and many more


it's kind of shocking , really ...

[Genersis]

You see, I have to wonder if Sex and the City fails the test the other way around.:tongue:

[megumidesu]

You see, I have to wonder if Sex and the City fails the test the other way around.:tongue:

what other way around ?

[Lalo]

I believe he means that if you reverse the gender of the Bechdel test, does "Sex in the City" fail? I think it might, also.

[megumidesu]

that's probably true
but the point of test is that there isn't a problem with male presence in film , just female ...

[Lalo]

Hmmm...for that matter so does "Desert Hearts" (LOL) and possibly "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants", "Thelma and Louise", and "Boys On The Side".

[Lalo]

that's probably true
but the point of test is that there isn't a problem with male presence in film , just female ...

And that statement is true. But film is only a reflection of our society as a whole. So that is what we can expect, right? I mean, the same could be said for music. Female musician's have the added burden of having to look attractive to be successful. If they gain the slightest bit of weight, the shift in media attention goes directly to their appearance. Why? Because it is okay to expect the objectification of women.

[Lalo]

Like I am saying something that you don't know already. (Jessica Rabbit) mile:

[Geminize]

Wow, Megumi. That is very simple and very revealing. I tend to enjoy movies which include strong female characters and lots of dialogue, but I hadn't given that much thought. I will definitely keep these criteria in mind now when I watch something new.

[Pix]

X-Men fails? Maybe I need to watch it again because I find myself not really believing that.

And as for Sex and the City, I think that might actually fail the test, and I don't mean in reverse...at least from what little I've seen of it the women are all talking about men in their lives, so it could be argued that it fails criteria #3.


Onto a related topic, here are a couple of Cracked articles that might be of interest...the first one is how (straight) men are trained to have a sense of entitlement toward women (which is backed repeatedly by the movies) which causes major problems:

http://www.cracked.com/article_19785_5-w...women.html

And the 7 chick flicks that secretly hate women:

http://www.cracked.com/article/194_7-pop...ate-women/

Btw, that missed Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (assuming I'm remembering the right movie) in which virtually all the women, even the most sympathetic, were portrayed as a little insane at best while men were not only sane and rational but friggin saints for the most parts. It was one of the most misogynistic movies I ever saw and yet women love it and men hate it as "another chick flick that hates men" (showing they never saw it). And I heard the popular book the movie was based on is actually far worse (including a mother sexually abusing her son).