The Bechdel Test, a method to determine gender bias in media, was born from this comic, “Dykes to Watch Out For,” created by Alison Bechdel. I like that it came from a comic, by the way.
As shown, the rules are simple:
1) It must have two women, at least. One is right out. One means she’s the token woman, the love interest, or worse.
2) They have to talk to each other. I’ve seen plenty of works with two women who never say a word to each other, and it makes them seem flatter characters than they should be.
3) It has to be about something other than a man. Love interest existence means flatter characters and weak motives.
There’s a 4), They have to be named, but it’s only helpful occasionally. For example, Labyrinth has Sarah, her step-mother, and the junk lady. The latter two aren’t named or established, pushing them to the side.
So! I have issues, two taken from Wikipedia. First, sometimes women aren’t prominent in films due to the setting. Monastery, all-male private school, anything where only androgyny exists. The other is that even if the work is Bechdel-approved, it could still be sexist. Twilight is a popular example.
My own issues are as follows:
-It’s not an indicator of quality. This means Yellow Submarine fails. Not an indicator of quality, sure, but kind of a bummer.
-“Man” isn’t defined properly. I assume it means “lover,” because why would anyone care if there’s a film about two sisters taking care of their dying father, talking about their lives and each other? It’s Oscar gold, brah!
-If the issue is the above, fighting over lovers, then the same thing should be true for any gender. Yes, I do mean a lesbian love triangle geared towards audiences other than men 18 or older. But very few mainstream works have taken this idea, and it would be essentially the same as two bisexual women and one man.
But my biggest issue is that nonsense and mixed messages can pass the test. As such, here are ten scenarios, plots, genres, or realizations of existing media I’ve devised that would pass the Bechdel Test.
1) Olsen Twins
You could have a movie with the 1) Olsen twins who spend the whole film 2) talking to each other about 3) oranges. The taste. The shape. The color. They 4) say each other’s name at the beginning of each sentence. 100% gender equality! A box office revenue of $16.37!
Ashley: “Mary-Kate, don’t you find these oranges scrumptious?”
Mary-Kate: “Ashley, oh, I certainly do. Ashley, I love the bright color, the notion that it can make juice, the plumage–”
Ashley: “Mary-Kate, oranges do not have plumage. Mary-Kate, birds have plumage.”
Mary-Kate: “Ashley, your wisdom of oranges knows no bounds. Ashley, I am proud to be your sister.”
2) Adult Filmography Intended for a Single Purpose
I mean porn, okay? I like using “corn” to substitute the word “porn.” The above image is not porn. Just… let’s get this one over with.
Long past the days of the stereotypical pizza man, many adult films 1) Feature two women. These two women don’t talk much, but assuming there’s two, 2) They talk to each other. Since corn often pretends to have a story, dialogue will be 3) About something other than a man. If it’s about rent, school, work, pizza (women can deliver pizzas too), or sports, then the two know each other and 4) They’ll be named. They’ll be named badly, but they’ll be named. Let’s post an example and get out of here.
Diamond Tiara: “Oh, that big game has me all worried, Cookie Crisp! I can’t think straight!”
Cookie Crisp: “Ha ha! Don’t worry, I’ve ordered a pizza! How about some smooth jazz?”
Diamond Tiara: “Oh no! If I hear the dulcet tones of Carole King, I get all weird and try to eat other women’s faces! Run away, Cookie Crisp!”
Cookie Crisp: “I knew that, and I like when you unhinge your jaw and literally swallow my face!”
Taylor: “Did someone order a pizza?”
***This portion of the review was composed of scant research. Although enough to know there’s always one Taylor.
3) Men Voicing Women
Unlike The Simpsons, Bob’s Burger’s main family members can all talk. Unlike Family Guy, American Dad, Rick & Morty, and Futurama, the central characters are predominantly male. Bob’s Burgers has 3:2 female cast, with diverse personalities. But wait. Four of those characters are voiced by men. It’s common for Ash Ketchum or Bart Simpson to have voice actresses to play boys, but scarcely men to play women. Why, Bob’s Burgers is Shakespearean up in here!
They obviously pass, but if we think about it, they would fail going by voice acting alone. So the character matters more than the voice, right? So where’s the cap? Gender of the character isn’t important, but then, that’s the point of the test. Does Bob’s Burger’s fail behind the scenes due to gender focus on men? Since it’s real life, does it matter? Could you justify blaming any medium for the cast? It’s their reality.
“Why do the Guardians of the Galaxy have four men?”
“I am Groot.”
“Three, then.”
“Well, it’s not like we planned it this way.”
“I am Groot.”
Mainly, the issue is meta-gender. Knowing the gender of the voices complicates the test.
4) Androgyny
If something lacks a defined gender, we impress the gender we wish upon it. Like how Mew is female and Mewtwo is male, despite either being either. They have traits we associate with gender, and they get caught in the middle.
If we hear an androgynous voice with no identity, do we attribute it male or female? If the voice is prominent in a play and people assume it’s female, can the play pass based on assumptions? The voice can 1) Be assumed to belong to a woman that 2) Talks to a woman about 3) Shuttle Buses, while calling itself 4) Taylor, but without establishment, the play is in limbo, doomed to not fully establish gender bias and cheesiness while breakin’ the bank.
Anna: “I hear a mysterious voice. Appear!”
Taylor: “My name is Taylor. I recommend taking a shuttle bus to the Kingdom of Anna. I shall guide you.”
Anna: “Why do you want to accompany me?”
Taylor: “I must avenge my ancestor, Pat of Live New York.”
5) Whatever this Scenario is Supposed to be
In the nearly-opposite vein of the Olsens, let’s say you cast Shailene Woodley and Fran Drescher in a movie together. They both get one line (a blessing for the latter). Here it is:
Plasma Jean (Shailene): “Lady Pizza Life, do you think the robots found the opals?”
Lady Pizza Life (Fran): “Well, Plasma Jean, it would be surprising.”
No other women have previously or will appear beyond this scene, but it passes. 1) Two women. 2) Discussion. 3) Not male-focused. 4) Named. I’d watch it.
6) Incoherent Dialogue
FACT: Two of the Teletubbies, Laa-Laa and Po, are female.
FACT: The show has 365 episodes, one for each day of the year.
FACT: Given the previous two FACTs, obviously Laa-Laa and Po must have talked about something other than a man at multiple points.
FACT: We’ll never know. They’re infantile, and therefore without proper coherent speech.
The Teletubbies speak baby talk, understandable as the basest form of language we have matches their own, but without nuanced discussion, the quartet talks about Tubby-Custard and how the vacuum cleaner is an idiot.
Laa-Laa: “Cake gone!”
Po: “Eh-Oh!”
Laa-Laa: “Throw vacuum-cleaner unda bus?”
Po: “Only if you mean that in the figurative sense; as following our base desires to literally throw Noo-noo under the bus would be regrettable. The baby sun… she watches everything we do. Yet I may never watch her back; my eyes would revolt and blind themselves. Who are you, baby sun? Why do you laugh when I cry?”
Dipsy: “Where cake?”
Po: “Naughty Noo-noo!”
7) Snow White
Oddly specific example, but Snow White has 1) Two women 2) Who talk to each other 3) About apples, although 4) Only Snow White has a proper name, the sentiment is that the queen has a decided name, rather than “some woman.”
So why is this an odd scenario that passes the Bechdel test? Mostly from our standpoint. Snow White is the trope codifier; every Disney princess movie uses tropes that are built from or defy Snow White. Defy. While Cinderella is the more popular film to rag on, Snow White is the first. The big deal. No sequel or prequels here. There’s a sense of respect.
Yet many view Snow White as the problem child as well. She didn’t know a prince, bunked with seven old dudes, shrieks, sings, has no survival skills or emotional defenses. She’s cheery and smiles. She’s not as bland as Aurora, but she’s no Ariel. Her problem is being the heart. She needs protection, although she supplies emotional encouragement to the dwarves. In short, she’s there to be the woman with no life of her own. Pretty much any man that comes along tells her to be a certain way or go to a certain place, and she does it and she’s there.
The Bechdel test is needed to prevent “cheesiness” in media, but it fails due to assumed common connections of feminism. In fact, Snow White was groundbreaking, and living with seven guys? Let’s just say that even the 1970’s wasn’t ready for that, less so the 40’s. The cheesiness only exists on our end, and pro-feminist works tend to get sidelined due to lost concepts of changing feminism.
Basically, Snow White passes because of her evil mother. It should fail because of how backwards Snow White is viewed by the public. But it should be put on a pedestal for what would come from it. That’s right, Kristen Stewart. Oh, and obligatory section…
8) There was a Movie Everyone Hates Starring Kristen Stewart with a Vampire but it Passes Perfectly
Yeah, if you’re looking for weird passing scenarios, Kristen Stewart in Twilight makes sense. I read the manga of Kristen Stewart’s Twilight, and I thought people overreacted. But later books do up the awful. Haven’t read, only the first two volumes of the manga (the first novel). I mean, no one can deny the waterfall scene, but Alison Bechdel knows not of waterfalling. She knows only that 1) Kristen Stewart as Bella Goosington and two other 4) named women, while 2) they do talk about the failed clone of David Boreanaz, they also talk about 3) not vampire dudes. Sorry, Twilight is Bechdel-tested, Bechdel-approved.
9) The Bangles
I mean the early 1980’s band The Bangles certainly had 1) Two women who 2) Talk Sing to each other, and I’m pretty sure they even 4) Had names. No one was nice enough to ask them, and by the early 2008’s, it was too awkward to ask them. But since we’ll never know what “Walk Like An Egyptian” was about, it’s impossible to confirm or deny if they spoke about non-men, since that was their only song.
If you wanna find all the cop-outs, they’re hanging out at number 10.
10) Dykes to Watch Out For, the strip “The Rule.”
I didn’t read the series outside of this strip. How could anyone be that neurotic to avoid movies starring men? My main issue is the straw-factor. Bechdel’s character walk past macho films, but it’s not like Ripley being macho makes it better. Some people are macho. Some men are feminine. Some women like testosterone-driven movies. My female family members do. Some guys don’t. I don’t. But then, I don’t want to watch Alien either. It’s the genre, not the lead. Write me stories, not messages. The message should help, not become.
Moving on up. 1) There must be two women. It has those. 2) They talk to each other. Yeah, okay, but it’s like they’re the only people on Earth. What movie theater is this empty? 3) No talk of men. Okay, this. They aren’t talking about a man, but the male population as a whole. What did I do? I didn’t appear in Barbarian. Now you’re going to cut out on my movie, A Time For Global Minds? Frankly, the main issue is the woman on the right doesn’t establish why she dislikes it. She could love Vigilante, but she doesn’t say outright. Oh, and 4) They aren’t named, which is unfair, but it’s not like Snow White got a fair warning of changing feminism.
It’s astounding how much has changed, even since the 1990’s. People are constantly trying to improve outdated or unmoving past ways of life, but this flawed concept, a test created fairly recently compared to other social obstacles, hasn’t been improved. I really hope I live to see a sensible guideline.
Also, Liz Wallace was the true creator of the Bechdel test. Hey, between her and Alison, that’s two women! They pass!
The Conjecture of a Benjy's Lecture 