What is the Bechdel Test?

In order to pass the Bechdel Test, a movie has to meet these criteria:

1. It has two or more named females;
2. Those female characters have to have a discussion with each other...
3. .... about something other than a male.

It doesn't even dictate the content of those discussions, other than it can't be about men nor boys.  It could be about housework or doing their nails, as long as it's a conversation in which males do not feature.

This latter is one of the prevailing criticisms of the Bechdel Test, as a measure of Feminist principles.  It targets female representation, rather than promoting a message of strong femininity.  Yet that should not deny its usefulness within those limitations.

Every year, the Motion Picture Association of America release their figures.  In amongst all of the box office financial statistics comes the demographic information.

In 2011, the most recent figures to hand, it was 50/50 as to whether tickets were sold to men or women.  But more females actually watched a movie at the theater.  51% of the theater audiences, in the USA and Canada, were female. 

It was a trend which had begun the previous year, when the ladies just nudged ahead. Before that, the 50/50 composition had held true for a few years.  Yet the prevailing ethos is still that more males watch movies than females.  It's just not a logic borne out in fact.

This means that over half of Hollywood's profits is being provided by female customers, who don't worry about the under-representation highlighted by the Bechdel Test.

Yet is that a fair comment?  After all, not every film has been subjected to the questions. Yet some of the biggest, most modern ones most definitely have; and they've failed.

As more people become aware of the Bechdel Test, many unofficial lists are kept.  Most are just like my reviews here on Wizzley.  They don't make it onto a database anywhere.

But there is one site which aims to collect all of the data in one place.  The Bechdel Test Movie List invites members of the public to judge each movie that they watch, then submit their conclusions onto a central list.

Currently 53% of those examined passed the Bechdel Test.  That means that, in this day and age of supposed gender equality, when 51% of theater-goers are women, 47% of all movies leave them under-represented.

However, the statistics are constantly changing, as more films are tested and added there.  To avoid subjectivity in dubious cases (for example, does a conversation about God count as being about a male or not?), each film is open to peer review.  Where the comments indicate contention, then a 'pass, but dubious' classification has been introduced.

Alison Bechdel wasn't setting out to change Feminist theater-going habits.  But she did it anyway.

She was actually creating content for her comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For (DTWOF), which ran from 1983-2008.  It was serialized in The Funny Times, as well as many gay and lesbian periodicals, such as The Lesbian Connection.

DTWOF, at times, could read like a bit of a soap opera, but it also delivered a sharp commentary upon real world happenings.  Its characters attended contemporary Gay Pride marches and other events, or discussed current politics.  Their particular interest was in anything that affected lesbians, though it could sometimes branch out too.

It was within this context that a Feminist character, in 1985, declined a trip to the theater. She claimed that she only watched films where two women discussed something other than men.

This was the embryonic Bechdel Test launched into the public sphere. Alison Bechdel had obviously - and unwittingly - touched the prevailing zeitgeist. But she had no idea, at the time, of the popularity and longevity of that comic strip and its rules.

By 2005, Alison Bechdel was under no illusions about the power of that movie test. It had started to take on a life of its own, reproduced under a variety of names.

One of the most pervasive was the Mo Movie Measure.  Mo was one of the earliest and most popular protagonists in DTWOF.  With readers reaching back into shady memories, it seemed to them that it was Mo who came up with The Rule. 

It wasn't.  The character who said it was actually unnamed. Mo hadn't even entered the series yet.  Nevertheless, the misattribution stood and the Mo Movie Measure is the name by which many commentators refer to it.

Alison Bechdel had a confession to make. She hadn't conceived of The Rule.  She'd just included it in her comic strip.

Her friend, and karate training partner, Liz Wallace had been the one to come up with the criteria. Bechdel gave a nod to her by adding a sign above the marquee in the background. The Wallace Marquee, it read, a private joke between friends.  Neither of them knew it would become so big! 

Some writers immediately altered their references, so that The Rule (as it had been known in the comic strip) was renamed the Bechdel/Wallace Rule.  Some changed it entirely to The Wallace Rule.

Meanwhile, there was one more element to be added in.  Ampersand, writing in Alas! A Blog, publicized the test, but misremembered the first part.  She thought that the two woman had to be named, though the original had merely said that there were two female characters.

In apologizing for the Chinese Whispers type error, she also let slip that she was the person who'd mistakenly attributed The Rule to Mo in the first place!

It didn't matter in the long run.  The most popular version of The Rule now reads as Ampersand reported it, with The Bechdel Test becoming its most commonly used moniker.