The Bechdel test is a super low bar. It is a simple evaluation used to gauge the representation of women in movies or other forms of fictional media. It was named after American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who introduced the concept in her comic strip “Dykes to Watch Out For” in 1985.
The test consists of three criteria that a movie or any other narrative work must meet in order to pass:
- It must have at least two named women characters.
- These women characters must have a conversation with each other.
- The conversation must be about something other than a man.
The purpose of the Bechdel test is not to determine the overall quality or feminism of a particular work, but rather to highlight the representation of women and the extent to which they are given substantial roles and meaningful interactions in storytelling. The test helps draw attention to the prevalence of male-dominated narratives and encourages a more diverse and inclusive portrayal of women in media.
(via: Pinterest)
The solution should be quite clear. Women need to make more movies. That way they don’t have to pretend it’s because of misogynic tendencies in film making but because that’s the way the writer wrote the script. I would hazard a guess the woman director would still catch flack for following the writing the movies is based on. I hope it’s well done and popular.
True. Also, I’d add that women who complain about movies that fail the Bechdel test then go out in droves to watch that film. Show business is first and foremost, if a movie makes money then more movies like that will get made. Same will TV shows. The reason there’s so many MCU films is they sell out movie theatres and make a lot money money for the studio. The reason Y the Last Man only had one season is few people watched it when it was released.