THE BECHDEL TEST ITS NOT ABOUT PASSING
In recent years, there has been more attention on the representation of women in the media. As the concept of feminism has become common, more people have become conscious of women’s portrayal in films and movies. There have been campaigns to have women take more lead roles. Critics of movies have developed yardsticks to measure films’ conformity to what they consider as an ideal presentation of women. One such measure of a movie’s characterization of women is the Bechdel Test.
While the Bechdel test looks at female characters’ development in films and movies, many still do not understand its works and purpose. Many still believe that passing it is a prerequisite for a good representation of women. However, that is quite far from the truth. There are three things to consider for a film to pass the test.
• First, the film must have at least two female characters
• The two female characters must have names and must speak to each other
• They must converse with each other about something not related to a male character or male love interest
The origins of the test are a comic where one character refuses to go to a movie unless it contains scenes with two female characters engaging in a conversation without the mention of men or anything to do with men. The objective here is to have movies that focus on gender equality. The Assumption is that as more scenes involve women conversing about things not related to men, a movie achieves gender equality. It has become a yardstick to measure diversity in content. The original goal was to identify strong female characters. However, it can be applied to any category to determine the level of diversity in the story.
The origins of the test are a comic where one character refuses to go to a movie unless it contains scenes with two female characters engaging in a conversation without the mention of men or anything to do with men. The objective here is to have movies that focus on gender equality. The Assumption is that as more scenes involve women conversing about things not related to men, a movie achieves gender equality. It has become a yardstick to measure diversity in content. The original goal was to identify strong female characters. However, it can be applied to any category to determine the level of diversity in the story.
The Bechdel Test’s misconceptions come from a misunderstanding of what feminism calls for in films and movies. While there is a clamor for more robust and more prominent female characters in cinema, eliminating men from the scenes does not serve the cause. Indeed, scenes with female characters having conversations devoid of the mention of men are rare. However, that does not mean that the characters are necessarily weak. Even dominant male characters discuss women in their conversations while still retaining their lead roles. Therefore, removing men entirely from conversations between female characters would not improve the position of female characters. It may weaken the plot of the movie.
The test’s purpose lies in determining why the scenes involving women characters discussing things other than men are rare in movies. Digging deep into the issue reveals that most TV shows, films, and movies lack well-developed and relevant female characters. There are rare instances where a female character is strong enough to advance the storyline. Reversely, there are many instances where male characters can discuss issues without mentioning women or anything related to women. Most movies, films, and TV shows involve multiple well-developed male characters that can advance the story. Thus, although the test aims to show women’s representation in the media, passing it does not mean that the movie or film achieves gender balance. It can pass the test yet be sexist. Further, forcing a movie to conform to the test’s requirements may take away from the plot, making it dull.
Traditionally, male characters play dominant roles as female characters take peripheral roles. That explains why women often mention male names in their conversations. To the writers, they can only enhance female characters’ contribution to the plot by talking about men. The problem of weak character development for women characters is what the test seeks to highlight. It aims to show how writers have a bias against female characters in the development of their stories. Therefore, trying to force a scene so that two female characters can discuss a topic such as the weather while male characters are doing something worthwhile makes the scene awkward. It would further draw attention to the sidelining of the female characters in the story. It reveals the sexism that continues to persist despite the best efforts to avoid or deny it. For some people, sexism is unconscious, while for others, it is more predetermined.
People may think that audiences do not want to hear what female characters say. However, that is more of a fallacy. The audience responds to developed characters. Thus, if you have an irrelevant, poorly-developed feeling out of sync with the plot, the audience would fail to connect with that character. It does not matter whether the name is male or female. If movies were to present male characters to be irrelevant to the plot, the audience would conclude that male characters had nothing relevant. They would become movie props whose purpose was to advance the movie’s aesthetics rather than add to the plot.
Some movies would fail the reverse Bechtel Test. In such movies, the men take the peripheral role and do not advance the story’s plot without mentioning the female characters. On the other hand, the female characters are more dominant, performing heroic acts. The movies prove that the goal is not to pass the test but to develop female characters to remain relevant to the plot. An obsession with passing the test may, in most instances, kill the story before it even develops beyond the first act.
Although people may insist on Bechdel’s stories, the scenes offer little information about the story’s sexism. They only give women scenes where they interact without talking about men, never mind the relevance of the conversations to the story’s plot. A report may pass the test yet have a sexist property while another fails the test but involves well-developed dominant female characters. You may have a scene where two peripheral female characters discuss irrelevant things, such as shoes, without mentioning men. Such a scene would make a film pass the test, yet the female characters play to the plot’s sexist narrative for the rest of the film.
On the other hand, another film may fail to have any scene where female characters talk about things not related to men, yet have interesting, strong female characters. While such a film may fail the test, it overcomes the sexist biases that dominate the industry. It allows women to have leading roles meaningful and relevant to the plot despite the women discussing men in their conversations. A good measure of sexism in any story is the availability or absence of opportunities for women participation. Therefore, a piece of information with limited opportunities for women would be sexist even if it may pass the test.
Feminists do not always have to avoid talking about men. A feminist can still fancy a man without giving up her ideologies. Having relationships with men does not negate the feminist ideologies. Equality is achievable even while pursuing romantic relationships as part of life, which should also be part of stories. To eliminate such relationships just to fit into a given desired ideal situation would be to kill creativity. What is needed is a balance in the female characters that allows them to have more dominant plot development roles.
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