After watching the X-Men movies with the hubs, I commented that I was conflicted about how I felt about them. I had always pictured the female characters to be strong, independent women who owned their powers! After finishing the movies, I realized they were all mostly either 1) afraid of their powers, 2) constantly seeking attention or approval from the male in their life, 3) or mostly for show. He laughed, and said, you should watch this.
The Bechdel Test: a test measuring female presence in fictional media where in order to pass, the media must meet the following criteria:
- It includes at least two [named] women,
- who have at least one conversation,
- about something other than a man or men.
Of course, limiting yourself to things that pass the test would be cutting out a lot of worthy entertainment. So my reason for mentioning the Bechdel Test is not in the hopes of advocating for a boycott of any medium which fails the test, but more-so to bring about an awareness that, for whatever reason, the majority of fiction created today seems to think that women aren’t worth portraying except in relation to men.
According to TV Tropes, the test is often misunderstood, because the Bechdel Test is not meant to give a scorecard of a work’s overall level of feminism:
The requirements are just what they say they are — it doesn’t make any difference if, for instance, the male characters the women talk about are their fathers, sons, brothers, platonic friends, mortal enemies, patients they’re trying to save or murderers they’re trying to catch, rather than romantic partners. Conversely, if a work seems to pass, it doesn’t matter if male characters are present when the female characters talk, nor does it matter if the women only talk about stereotypically girly topics like shoe shopping — or even relationships, as long as it’s not relationships with men.
Passing the Bechdel Test does not mean that the work of fiction necessarily contains overt feminist themes, or that there’s no chance for misogyny. It’s merely a measure of the type of interactions women are having in fiction, designed by someone who thought that women in fiction ought to express their real feelings about all aspects of their lives. That ultimately, women ought to be characters, not cliches.
So why am I bringing this up today?
The last book you read, does it pass the Bechdel Test? I know my last book didn’t. Can you think of any book you’ve read lately that passes? Cause again, I can’t.
- When a heroine gets in a fight with her parents, what’s it over? A boy.
- When a heroine calls her best friend to talk, what do they spend hours gushing about? A boy.
- When a heroine is a tough-as-nails chick, who doesn’t take crap from anybody, who’s her best friend? A boy.
What does it mean that we’re constantly portraying women in relationship to the men in their lives? That a woman isn’t interesting enough or that her conversations aren’t worth listening to, unless it’s with a man, about a man or because of a man?
Hm, this is interesting. The last book I read SUPER fails this one. Well, there are two named female characters but all they talk about are the men!
Yup, me too. Just finished Beautiful Disaster and I don’t think the two females talk about anything BUT their men.
Funny, because the book I’m currently reading actually passes the test! I’m re-reading Eve from Anna Carey and we have Eve and her friend Arden as the main roles, but there are a lot of other women in it. They have conversations about other things, but again.. the main subject in this book is the fear for man and running away from them :p
I sometimes really hate the way they portray a woman. A movie doesn’t have to include the three rules, but I don’t like it when they make us these whiny, scared, male-obsessed things.
Haha, yea it would be nice if we could just be regular people who can fend for themselves sometimes!
Most of the books fails this test. Especially in romance genre. Even when I think about my favorite kick-ass heroines most of them fail the test. Maybe Graceling? Although this book was attacked a lot as promoter of feminism – mainly because heroine does not want ever to get married and have kids.
I’m trying to think of when Katsa would have had a conversation with another female. I’m sure she spoke to Bitterblue, but of what I can recall, it was mostly about keeping her safe from her father, or explaining her relationship with Po.
I don’t think it makes Katsa any less kick-ass, as much as it’s a comment on how male-dominated our society is, even when something is promoted as being slightly radical in its feminist views.
What a fascinating and eye-opening post! I have to admit I never really gave it much thought, but looking back, the past few books I’ve read have all failed. Even my most recent finish, The Madman’s Daughter (which I adored) still managed to hit every single mark.
I thought this was super interesting too, which is why I had to share it! I’m not 100 percent sure of the implications of so many mediums failing this test, but I know I find it fascinating!
In Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty, Jessica Darling discusses her own self-image with another (named) female character. There are also discussions of college and clothing with her mother.
The Death of Bees, the read before Second Helpings, also passes actually, because I know the two sisters discuss burying their parents in the garden. Does that count as talking about a male? The dad’s a corpse at this point, and they’re going more about disposal than HIM. This is complex.
This is a real issue, though, and one I try to remember. It really shouldn’t be hard to pass, because as you say they don’t even need to be having a serious discussion.
Apparently there’s different versions of this test, where any mention of any male person at all, would result in the medium failing the test. In other versions, I think your example would pass.
What I’ve found most interesting is how few books I can think of that do (or might) pass. Like I said above, it won’t deter me from reading a book, but it is most definitely interesting to think about.
Once you learn about the Bechdel test you can’t unsee it. I haven’t really been looking out for this in book,s but when I think about what I’m reading now it seems that most Contemps don’t pass the test.
Great sources !
Yup, it’s definitely one of those things that won’t necessarily determine what I read/watch, but it is something I’ve noticed a lot since it was brought to my attention. If nothing else, it’s extremely interesting to think about.
I have heard of this test, but I haven’t really tried applying it to things I’ve read or watched. I should, though, because, as you stated, I think it is an important measure. Women should be characters and not cliches. And as it seems like our society is striving to become more gender neutral in some ways, I think tests like this show that we still have a long way to go.
One quibble that I do have with this test, however, is that it’s a little too simplistic. For example, I wonder how many of the most recent books you’ve read are YA books. I feel like with that genre in particular, many books won’t pass that test. And that’s not because they’re bad books or misogynistic. One of the most frequent themes in YA is an awakening and gradual understanding of sexuality as these characters are starting to grown into mature adults. I bet I couldn’t name five YA books where relationships aren’t a part of them. Because that’s something that many teens really do notice and learn to care about and fixate on at that stage in their lives.
It’s definitely a thought-provoking issue, one I want to give more time to thinking about. But I think it, like most tests measuring things like that, needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
I think the reason I find the test so interesting is because it’s so simple and so much media still fails. I do think you make a valid point about YA and its’ characters undergoing a sexual awakening, but I do like to think that two female characters have something to talk about besides boys every once in a while, even with all of those raging hormones lol.
I’ve heard of this, but now that I’m reading your blog post, I realize I haven’t really applied it to any oft he books I’ve read recently. Now I feel the challenge to do so! You just might have inspired another new blog post of mine (and more statistics with CHARTS!).
That’s right – once again you’ve inspired me to make charts!
http://anothernovelread.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/the-bechdel-test-ya-books-with-charts/