I try, really I do, but I keep failing the Bechdel test.
For those who don’t know the Bechdel test also known as the Bechdel-Wallace Test, is a sort of litmus test for female presence in fictional media. The test is named for Alison Bechdel, creator of the comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, who made it known to the world with this strip
. What it gets down to is the film, play, book, comic, etc… has to fit the following criteria.
- It includes at least two women (preferably named characters),
- who have at least one conversation,
- about something other than a man or men.
An alarmingly small number of works pass this test which is of course is Ms. Bechdel’s point.
Anyway I usually have the first two covered; it’s easy when more than half of the cast is female but number three… I keep slipping.
After all even when the topic of this conversation is “what do we do about this idiot” it still doesn’t count.
(note: in hindsight it occurred to me that most of recent scenes with Nancy and her sister count but I have a bad feeling that’s a fluke.)
