Communication Across Cultures: The Bechdel Test

COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES

Communication Across Cultures

The Bechdel Test

Think of the last movie you saw. Now ask yourself three questions:

  1. Does the film include at least two female characters that have names?
  2. Do these characters ever speak to each other?
  3. Do these characters ever speak to each other about anything other than a man?

Chances are, the answer to at least one of these questions will be no. Way back in 1985, cartoonist Allison Bechdel outlined the three preceding simple rules for assessing gender bias (Ulaby, 2008). The “Bechdel Test” (or “Bechdel Rule”), originally a joke in a panel of Bechdel’s comic “Dykes to Watch Out For,” developed a life of its own, it seems, when people began to realize just how few films were able to meet these three simple criteria. In the thirty years since it was introduced, the Bechdel test has become a popular—albeit not entirely scientific—lens through which to examine bias in film. It has been embraced by feminist scholars, media critics, and most recently, a number of Swedish cinemas that have incorporated the Bechdel test into their film rating system (Associated Press, 2013).

The criteria outlined set a pretty low bar for the inclusion of women in films, and yet a shocking number of popular and critically acclaimed films still fail to clear it. Of the fifty highest-grossing films of 2013, for example, a mere seventeen clearly passed the test; seven barely passed, and the rest failed completely (Waldman, 2014). And of nine Academy Award nominees for best picture in 2014, only three passed (American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, and Philomena) (Dewey, 2014).

The Bechdel test was never intended to assess the quality of a film or to critique the way films portray women. Many great movies featuring strong female leads (like 2013’s Gravity or 1998’s Run Lola Run) fail the test, while some with decidedly unfeminist messages manage to pass (many a movie has been saved on the basis of a conversation about shoes or hair). And, of course, some stories are simply not about women (the plot, setting, and time frame of films like Twelve Angry Men or Saving Private Ryan would not be expected to support a large female cast). But the test does manage to shine a light on the fact that most Hollywood films are produced primarily for and often centered on men and concerned with male stories.

Think About This

  1. Do you think that the Bechdel test is a good way of assessing gender bias? What are its limits? Which of the three questions do you think is the most important?

    Question

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    Do you think that the Bechdel test is a good way of assessing gender bias? What are its limits? Which of the three questions do you think is the most important?
  2. If you changed the test to focus on other populations—for example, asking if there are at least two characters of color that talk to each other about something other than a white person—do you think that fewer or more films would pass?

    Question

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    If you changed the test to focus on other populations—for example, asking if there are at least two characters of color that talk to each other about something other than a white person—do you think that fewer or more films would pass?
  3. What does it say about popular media that a set of criteria presented in an offbeat comic could evolve into a test used by scholars and critics alike?

    Question

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    What does it say about popular media that a set of criteria presented in an offbeat comic could evolve into a test used by scholars and critics alike?