The Bechdel Test

What is the Bechdel Test?

What has better female representation - Avengers: Infinity War or Disney's Cinderella? To answer that question, people say you need the Bechdel test. The Bechdel test is a simple tool to see if a movie has good female representation or not. It checks if a movie meets 3 basic criteria.

1. It must have two named female characters

2. The female characters must have a conversation

3. The conversation must be about something other than a man

Apparently, if a movie follows these three rules, it has good female representation. But do we really ned it? Does it always work?

Does the Bechdel Test work?

Lets get back to my original question - What has better female representation - Avengers: Infinity War or Disney's Cinderella? According to a survey, Avengers: Infinity War has the better representation - We've got female warriors like Okoye and Black Widow, women geniuses like Shuri... But according to the Bechdel Test? Cinderella is better.

How did this happen though? Well, they both have numerous female characters, passing the first test. The second is where it gets tricky - In Cinderella we see her get bossed around by her stepmother. But in Avengers we don't see them have a full conversation.

You're telling me this:

Is better representation than this?

This is just one example of the Bechdel test failing - women warriors are beaten out by conversations about dresses. The movie Mulan is literally about a girl breaking gender stereotypes, but it still fails. Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone gave us Hermione Granger, one of the most iconic female role model of our times, but that doesn't make the cut either.

Why Doesn't the Bechdel Test Work?

A lot of people who know the Bechdel Test think it was created as a serious, academic tool. The truth is pretty different though. Why doesn't the Bechdel Test work? Because it was never meant to be a real test in the first place.

The Bechdel test actually comes from a 1985 comic strip - The Rule by Alison Bechdel. It wasn't supposed to be taken seriously!

Conclusion

The Bechdel test can sometimes be fun or useful, but at the end of the day, if warriors like Natasha Romanoff, scientists like Shuri, leaders like Mulan, or intelligent women like Hermione aren't making the cut when Cinderella is? That's not a real measure we should be using.

So instead of the Bechdel test, instead of ticking boxes, lets focus on what actually matters - that women in media have depth, and stories beyond men, not just conversations. That is the kind of representation we should be looking for. That is the kind we need.