Let’s Talk About The Bechdel Test

In the world of books and movies, you may hear people discussing the Bechdel Test as a way of evaluating how well a particular work represents or handles women.  If you haven’t heard of the Bechdel Test before (and it makes you think of bechamel sauce, like I did), then you probably want to know what it is.  Even if you know what it is, is it any good at letting you know how well the female characters are written? 

Well, let’s talk about it.

What Is The Bechdel Test?

The Bechdel Test, according to the good folk at Wikipedia, dates back to 1985 when a feminist cartoonist, Alison Bechdel, had two of her characters using a set of rules when choosing a movie.  Rumour has it that the set of rules was inspired by a friend of Alison Bechdels, known as Liz Wallace, which is why the test is also called the Bechdel–Wallace Test (that sounds very nerdy).  The list of rules was put forward as a way to highlight how a lot of movies didn’t have many women in them, and if they did have women, they were mostly there as love interests, damsels in distress, etc. – you know; all the stereotypes.

The rules are as follows:

1.       The book/movie has to contain at least two named female characters.

2.       The women have to talk to each other.

3.       At least one of their conversations has to be something other than a man.

This was the 1980s, remember, when it was super-common for kids shows and movies to have only one female character: Princess Leia, Daisy Duke, etc.  If you were a girl back then, like I was, and a playground game involved playing, say, Star Wars, then all the girls bickered over who got to get the one actual female role and who had to pretend to be a boy (or missed out on playing altogether, which was what usually happened to me).  The lack of good strong heroines in the movies and books was notable, and the introduction of the Bechdel Test drew attention to this fact.

What’s Wrong With The Bechdel Test?

However, the Bechdel Test has its drawbacks.  While it certainly drew attention to the lack of good heroines and female supporting characters in the books and movies we loved in a general broad-brush way, it wasn’t enough to tell you whether a particular work of fiction showed women in non-stereotypical ways.  And for non-fiction, it was even worse: there was no way a book about, say, Joan of Arc, with one woman amid hundreds of men, was going to pass that test.

What’s more, by merely saying a work hasn’t “passed” because the two female characters aren’t talking about a man has some problems.  Technically, this would mean a story where two or more women talk nastily and viciously about another woman behind the absent woman’s back would pass this test.  So would a story that depicts women as vain and empty-headed because all they talk about is clothes or hairstyles.  But the story wouldn’t have interesting heroines doing the fun stuff we love to read about.  Anyway, what counts as “talking about a man”?  Any conversation that touches on someone from the other 50% of the population?

In fact, it’s quite fun to think up story ideas that would make a good story with a heroine or two (and maybe a villainess).  Here’s some concepts and story starters that all fail the test.  Feel free to use them!

Only One Female Character:

·         A plucky pirate lass is the only survivor of a shipwreck and has to survive alone on a desert(ed) island.

·         A dog sled driver makes her way across a frozen tundra alone on a mission (running the Iditarod?).

·         A merchant who is the sole survivor of an attack by bandits has to make her way across the desert then bring the bandits to justice.

·         A woman goes on a solo yachting trip (or flight).

·         A paladin candidate goes on a solo quest to earn her title.

·         A woman and her sons work their way across the wilderness to find a new home to settle down.

·         The heroine and hero go on a quest adventure together (maybe to find the missing Stones of Protection that guard the Kingdom – hey, that’s the Stones of the Kingdom series!)

·         A woman and a talking donkey set out on an adventure together (question: does a work of fantasy fiction pass the Bechdel Test if the heroine’s talking animal sidekick is female?).

Two Female Characters Who Don’t Talk To Each Other

·         A policewoman is on the trail of a female criminal who has been terrorizing the city.

·         A mother set out to find her missing daughter.

·         A female knight goes on a mission to rescue the kidnapped princess.

·         The questing party contains two women – but one is a priestess who has taken a vow of silence.

·         A woman has been cursed so that she cannot speak (along the lines of The Little Mermaid) and her sister is trying to break the curse.

The Female Leads Talk About A Man

·         Two slave girls plot how they are going to overthrow the evil emperor.

·         Policewomen talk about the serial killer they’re hunting down.

·         Two sisters go on a mission to rescue their missing father.

·         A woman and her mother-in-law hatch a plan to get her husband out of jail after he’s been wrongfully arrested.

·         Two queens who are allies of neighbouring nations decide to hold a massive tournament so they can pick husbands.

Finally, it’s hard to apply the Bechdel Test to any romance book, where the relationship between the heroine and the hero is central.  Of course the heroine is going to discuss that annoying/intriguing/wonderful man with her best friend, her mother and the guy’s sister, and that’s how we can see the heroine’s thoughts and feelings change.  Let’s face it: women talk about their romantic relationships with each other. 

The Bechdel Test certainly served its purpose.  However, it’s not the big be-all and end-all.  Let’s just write, read and enjoy stories where interesting and relatable heroines go on adventures, save the day and generally do all the fun stuff – whether or not they talk about men.