Journal: The Bechdel Test
By
Paul Adams
Whoa!
Whoa!
Calm down. This isn’t what you think. Either of you. No, I’m not going to
shove some half-thought-out feminist rage down your throat, and no, I’m not
going to go on a “mansplaining” rant about everything I’ve decided is wrong
with feminism either. This is a simple and honest discussion of a commonly used
trope that just so happens to often be used by proponents of feminism and what
it really tells us about writing.
For those who don’t know, the Bechdel test was created in 1985 by Alison
Bechdel and has since become a common test for gender bias in fiction. The
test, in a nutshell, says that a work must feature at least two female
characters, those characters must have names, and they must have a conversation
not centered around men. Now, as a general rule, this test should never be seen
as a definitive test for what is sexist, what is feminist, or otherwise.
Hundreds of films and books don’t pass the test that are far more positive and
progressive in their depiction of women than hundreds of films and books that
do. The test is far too general and loose in its criteria to ever be considered
a definitive test. What it does do, however, is shine a light on easy and
common mistakes to make for a writer or creator.
To really understand this test, I looked at as many works as I could
through the lens of both a Bechdel test and a reverse Bechdel test (basically
the same thing but with guys), and I noticed a few specific trends. First and
foremost, the sex of the protagonist is almost always a factor in whether or
not the work passes either; specifically, if the protagonist is male, the work
is less likely to pass the regular Bechdel test, but if the protagonist is
female, the work is less likely to pass the reverse. However, if the work has
multiple protagonists (of equal importance), maybe a duo or an ensemble cast,
the work is almost always going to pass both. Secondly, no matter the gender of
the protagonist, the longer the work runs, for several books, movies, episodes,
etc. the more likely it will pass both tests.
These say a bit more than you think. Most importantly, they speak to the
real power of a protagonist on a story. Our protagonist is our main anchor in
the narrative. Everything we see and hear is filtered through them. Every
supporting character and their interactions will be structured around their
direct relationship to the protagonist. The more time we spend in this world,
the more those supporting characters will be fleshed-out and their interactions
won’t have to be directly linked to the protagonist, but if the work is only a
single installment, those supporting characters will have a much smaller window
of time to reach that level.
The Harry Potter series is an
excellent example of this. If one applies the Bechdel test to the first book, Harry Potter and the
Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone, it is negligible at best if it passes or
not. At this point, we are just being introduced to the wizarding world and
Hogwarts, and everything is being filtered through Harry’s eyes. The entire
cast, including the female cast, exist primarily through their relationship to
Harry. Petunia is Harry’s abusive aunt, Hermione is one of the friends Harry
makes at school, and Professor McGonagall is one of his teachers. Other female
characters inhabit this world, but these three are the most prominent. The most
conversation had between any of the three is maybe a few passing comments
during class between Hermione and McGonagall.
However, by the end of the series, a full six books later, the series has
passed the Bechdel test maybe a thousand times over. Among our strong female
cast are Hermione, McGonagall, and Petunia, alongside Molly and Ginny Weasley,
Professors Sprout, Trelawney, and Madam Pomfrey, Luna Lovegood, Bellatrix
Lestrange, Dolores Umbridge, Nymphadora Tonks, Fleur Delacour, Cho Chang, and
so many others, all with a thousand different interests and drives, varying
levels of morality and depth, and most of whom have had numerous conversations
with each other on a number of different subjects. Conversations about men have
occurred, obviously, the test says nothing about such conversations not
happening at all (if it did, nothing would pass the regular or reverse tests).
Considering half the cast is made up of hormonal teenagers, this is
unavoidable. But we have also had conversations between Hermione and McGonagall
on grades, McGonagall and Trelawney on their differing opinions of the
Divination subject, McGonagall standing up to Umbridge on more than a few
occasions, Molly and Tonks discussing Order of the Phoenix matters, Hermione
and Luna arguing the merits of Luna’s crazy theories, and Ginny and Molly
having regular mother-daughter conversations here and there. What made the
difference was the time these seven books gave the readers to flesh out all the
characters around Harry, something the first book never could have done.
The contrast I noticed between male and female protagonists and the
results of their respective Bechdel tests is most noticeable in the action and
romantic comedy genres, two genres I consider to be spear and distaff
counterparts to each other. Both market themselves to one specific gender, both
tend to feature a predominantly male or female protagonist respectively, and
both pander to the basest stereotypical drives of their target gender. Both genres
can be shallow, lazy, and cliché in both story and character at their worst and
even most average moments, both tend to paint unflattering portraits of the
opposite gender to their target audience, and both tend to be the worst
offenders regarding the Bechdel or reverse Bechdel tests.
In an action movie, your protagonist is generally your Vin Deisel, Jason
Statham, or Bruce Willis type: tough, witty, and occasionally versatile enough
to use his brain as well as his brawn. All characters will be structured around
him, be they his crew, the bad guys, his family, or the authorities presenting
an obstacle in his path. The common female archetypes will be the sexy love
interest, who will mainly talk to him. He may have a wife, daughter, mother, or
sister who will drive his motivation in some way. There may be a Michelle
Rodriguez type within the crew, or a sexy femme fatale among the bad guys.
There can often be a tough female cop who has worked her way up through the
ranks and won’t take crap from anyone and is the main authority getting in his
way. Most of these characters are structured around the protagonist and his
adrenaline-fueled adventure and most of their interactions will be with him. If
he has more than one female family member, they will probably have a familial
conversation, thus passing the test, and if there is more than one woman on his
crew, chances are they will talk business at some point, but in general most of
these archetypes are rarely in a position to interact much at all.
On the flipside, we have the Rom Com. Our female protagonist will often
be a smart, driven businesswoman who has built a very successful life for
herself and has everything she could ever want, now if only she could find her
true love. You know, a Katherine Heigl, Lacey Chabert, or Michelle Monaghan
type. The male cast will be predominantly made up of the dashing, generically
handsome love interest with a square jaw and zero personality. He will probably
have a friend, with whom he will discuss nothing but women. Our female lead may
have a gay coworker, or a male boss who will probably sexually harass her at
some point in the movie, and just like the action genre, she may have a family:
a brother or a father and so on. If she has multiple men in her family, they
will likely have a familial conversation and pass the reverse test. If her
father and brother interact with the love interest at all, it will only be
about the protagonist. There may also be a smarmy jerk of a rival love
interest, whose interactions with his opponent will likewise only consist of
discussion of our leading lady.
Now, both of these genres are no stranger to the opposite gender in the
lead role, and I tend to find these archetypes still remain, only in
gender-flipped form depending on the role, and the reverse rules still apply.
However, when these genres both have dual protagonists of equal prominence in
the plot, they will tend to pass both the regular and reverse tests, as both
protagonists will have multiple conversations with the people of both genders
in their lives.
An interesting case in this regard are the classic Disney princess films.
In the case of Cinderella, the male
cast can be summed up to primarily Jaq, Gus, the King, the Prince, and the
Grand Duke. The latter three arguably already fail the reverse test, as they do
not technically have names that the viewer knows of without having to resort to
supplementary material, while Jaq and Gus just barely manage to eke out a
passing grade. Even though about ninety percent of their conversations center
around their beloved “Cinderelly,” they do manage to get in a few lines to each
other about Lucifer the cat and how to be a mouse. Then, if you wanted to
overlook the King and Grand Duke’s lack of names, they do have several
conversations . . . about the prince . . . specifically finding a wife for the
prince.
On the other hand, Snow White and
the Seven Dwarves, while having a female protagonist, does pass the reverse
test with flying colors, given the titular seven dwarves, each with a name, all
have conversations with each other about mining and stuff. However, if one were
to condense the dwarves down into a single character, make it Snow White and the One Dwarf, suddenly
the movie does not pass anymore, as the dwarf, the Huntsman, and the Prince would
barely even interact with one another (also the Huntsman and Prince don’t have
names given in the movie either). I find another common trend seems to be that
despite the gender of your protagonist, if you have more than one of the
opposite gender in a group that share a single attachment to said protagonist,
like the dwarves in Snow White or the
family members in the action and rom com genres, then the test, regular or
reversed, will generally be passed.
Finally, we come to TV series, which almost unilaterally pass both
versions of the test due to A) the longer amount of time allotted, giving them
the advantage spoken of earlier, and B) more often than not having ensemble
casts who will mix and match with each other episode by episode. Friends, for example, featured a
six-person cast of three girls and three guys, none of whom had any particular
prevalence over the others, so every episode, we watched our six protagonists
interact with each other, guys and girls alike, and with other characters around
them, and no one even needed to consider a test. Ensemble casts pose other
problems, especially in formats outside of television, so don’t go away from
this thinking that that’s going to just be a cure-all to every Bechdel-related
problem.
On the whole, if you’re really concerned about passing the Bechdel test,
consider the medium with which you are working. An ensemble cast works well for
television, and has worked on other mediums in the past, though it comes with a
lot of problems you are going to have to work around. Dual protagonists work
best in film, but generally work fine in book form as well. A single
protagonist generally proves to give your story the strongest focus of all
these options, though it does carry with it the limitations covered above. If
you want to write or create a long-running series, use that time wisely to
flesh out all of your characters and the problem will work itself out. If you
want to write a single, stand-alone story, realize that time is not on your
side, and your safest bet is to write multiple characters of opposite gender to
the protagonist making up a group with a shared relationship to the
protagonist.
If you aren’t worried about passing the Bechdel test, or the reverse for
that matter, that’s fine too. It is not, and never will be, an accurate
reflection of what is or is not sexist, or what is or is not feminist. It
primarily functions to highlight inconsistencies that result as a natural part
of the limitations of writing or the imperfectness of the human condition. If
nothing else, through the course of this essay, the Bechdel test has
demonstrated just how powerful an effect your protagonists can have on
everything else in your story. Use them wisely.
Thanks for reading. Comment below and follow me for more.
