{"id":1326,"date":"2014-08-28T15:35:17","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T15:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2026-02-02T16:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:42:03","slug":"bechdel-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk\/?p=1326","title":{"rendered":"Short guide to the Bechdel Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have a Tumblr account, Twitter username, or Facebook profile, you may have come across a little thing called the Bechdel test.\u00a0 If not, the test has now even appeared in the mainstream media such as The Guardian<\/em> and The Washington Post<\/em> and has become synonymous with a way to determine whether or not a film is feminist.<\/p>\n

The test gained traction on the blogosphere around 2008, although the origins of the concept can be traced back to the pre-social media days of 1985. That year a strip in Alison Bechdel\u2019s comic series Dykes to Watch Out For<\/em> introduced a way of assessing a film\u2019s feminist credentials. \u201cThe Rule\u201d, as the strip is titled, depicts two women discussing what to see at the cinema. One of the cartoon characters reveals that she \u201cgoes to a movie if it satisfies three basic requirements.\u201d They are as follows: 1. The film has at least two female characters; 2. These two female characters within the film talk to each other; and 3. What the two female characters in the film talk about has nothing to do with a man. This same woman in the comic laments that with her rule in place the last film she was able to see was Alien<\/em>! In that film, released in 1979, by the way, Sigourney Weaver and another female crew member on the ship talk to each other about a subject other than a man: the monster. While not strictly true that there were no films between 1979 and 1985 that feature at least two female characters that talked to each other about something other than men, the comic exaggerates (a little) for political effect. The recent spotlight on the Bechdel test reflects a widespread, often overlooked tendency within mainstream films, namely the fact that female characters only have an interest in or concern for the opposite sex.<\/p>\n

In the strip and in interviews, comic artist Bechdel (pronounced like \u2018rectal\u2019 as jokes on her personal website) credits \u201cThe Rule\u201d to her friend Liz Wallace. However, it is the cartoonist\u2019s name that stuck and the rule is now widely known as \u201cthe Bechdel test\u201d (Resmer). The strip in question predates the online platforms on which it has gained such traction; Dykes to Watch Out For<\/em> ran in American humour newspaper, Funny Times<\/em>. A quick Google Trends search of \u201cBechdel test\u201d returns data that the term was picked up online in summer 2008 with a sharp spike in traffic throughout 2013.<\/p>\n

It is not entirely clear as to what caused the test\u2019s online popularity. Yet it is notable that its reappearance on the web followed just over year after the founding of blogging website, Tumblr. Type \u201cBechdel test\u201d into the Tumblr search feature and a slew of blog posts are returned, both articulate and otherwise. Videos explaining the test can be found on YouTube, such as on the channel Feminist Frequency. Creator Anita Sarkeesian describes her channel as \u201can ongoing series of video commentaries exploring gender representations, myths and messages in popular culture media.\u201d Due to the very loose description of the test in the original comic strip, every new author that takes on the Bechdel test to share and explain it inadvertently adds his or her own interpretation. One blog\u2019s addition that the female characters also were required to have names was not set out in the original text (Alas). However, this requirement has continued to appear as a point of disqualification for films and is included (albeit in brackets) on the website bechdeltest.com.<\/p>\n

Recently the Bechdel test has reached beyond its initial grassroots popularity. Articles in the mainstream press have described the phenomenon. Entertainment writer, Alice Vincent noted the success of films starring females in 2013, explicitly citing \u201cBechdel test\u201d in the article\u2019s title. Some cinemas in Sweden have adapted the Bechdel test as one way of rating and marketing their screens to patrons, with films that pass the Bechdel test advertised with an A grade. The unofficial rating system appearing in a selection of Stockholm cinemas has been met with support from the Swedish Film Institute (Vincent 2013). However, Leslie Felperin, writing for The Guardian<\/em> film blog suggests the adoption of the test as a guarantor of a film\u2019s progressive credentials might be misguided. Felperin is suspicious of the test\u2019s pass\/fail rhetoric and limited guidelines. She describes how films like Jonathan Glazer\u2019s Under the Skin<\/em> (2013) which is \u201cdeeply concerned with female power and agency\u201d fail the test, while films like Fast & Furious 6 <\/em>(2013), a franchise associated with its sexualisation of women, manage to pass.<\/p>\n

The drawback of the test is that it is often discussed on online forums in terms of pass or fail. But the test is far from systematic as with discussion around the recent example of Gravity<\/em> (2013). The film\u2019s protagonist is female and the narrative deals with her experiences and perspectives, as well as celebrating her resolve and ingenuity. However, in the eyes of the test, because Sandra Bullock does not speak with another woman in the film, it does not pass the test. By extension the sense of Gravity<\/em>\u2019s feminist agenda is somehow diminished. The test is therefore far from fool-proof and not without its blindspots.<\/p>\n

So with all these shortcomings and limitations is the Bechdel test useful? Well, yes, because it brings to the attention of viewers, especially younger viewers, a systematic problem within film culture. The average demographic on Tumblr, for example, consists of teenagers and young adults. For a group prone to getting their information from online sources, the Bechdel test has instigated a more critical approach toward mainstream films and their gender-biased logic. Through social media, the test has been useful in alerting particularly younger audiences to the Hollywood\u2019s endemic sexism. It coincides with the increasing trend of women speaking up about the necessity for films with female roles. Not only is there more press about the lack of strong female characters within mainstream Hollywood, but also increasing coverage of the disheartening percentages of women working and getting their work seen in the film industry as a whole. Cate Blanchet\u2019s acceptance speech at the 2014 Oscars for Blue Jasmine<\/em> underscored the demand for this type of cinema. Her proclamation reflects the original spirit that seems to have been lost in the more recent incarnation of the Bechdel test. Blanchet sought to disabuse \u201cthose in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money\u201d (Selby). The test is a useful a reminder of the industry\u2019s male skew and a call to be critically aware of what one watches. In many ways, the debate now surrounding the validity of the Bechdel test has done well to promote even further discussion of the gender politics of any given film. The website TV Tropes puts it best: the Bechdel test was \u201cnot meant to give a scorecard of a work\u2019s overall level of feminism.\u201d This short guide, like every other blog post and reputed news publication that mention it, is continuing to shape the understanding and possibly changing the original meaning and significance of the Bechdel test while set to the task of demanding greater and fuller roles for women on screen.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alas, A Blog. \u201cThe Bechdel Test, AKA, The Mo Movie Measure.\u201d Alas, A Blog<\/em>. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Bechdel, Alison. \u201cFrivolous, Aimless Queries.\u201d Alison Bechdel<\/em>. Alison Bechdel, Web. 5 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Felperin, Leslie. \u201cCinema programmers beware: feminist films can flunk the Bechdel test.\u201d The Guardian<\/em>, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Mar. 2014<\/p>\n

Resmer, Cathy. \u201cThe Rule.\u201d Alison Bechdel<\/em>. Alison Bechdel, 16 August 2005. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Sarkeesian, Anita. \u201cThe Bechdel Test for Women in Movies.\u201d Online video clip. YouTube<\/em>. YouTube, 8 Dec. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Selby, Jenn. \u201cCate Blanchett\u2019s Best Actress Oscars 2014 acceptance speech.\u201d The Independent<\/em>, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Tumblr. \u201cAbout.\u201d Tumblr<\/em>. Tumblr, Web. 25 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

TV Tropes. \u201cUseful Notes: The Bechdel Test.\u201d TV Tropes<\/em>. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Vincent, Alice. \u201cBechdel Test films triumph at the box office.\u201d The Telegraph<\/em>, 7 January 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Vincent, Alice. \u201cSwedish cinemas launch feminist film ratings.\u201d The Telegraph<\/em>, 6 November 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

Written by Marion Walker (2014); Queen Mary, University of London<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article may be used free of charge. Please obtain permission before redistributing. Selling without prior written consent is prohibited. In all cases this notice must remain intact.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 Marion\/Mapping Contemporary Cinema<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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