forum What are your thoughts on the Bechdel Test?

Started March 21, 2021 by @All_The_Snakes_In_Ireland

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Hey writers, I was just wondering what your opinions were on the Bechdel-Wallace test, which is supposed to be a measurement for the representation of women in a story.
In order to pass the test, a story must

• have two female characters,
• who have a conversation,
• about something that isn't relating to a male character or men in general.

The basic idea is that passing this test indicates a healthy amount of female representation in your story.

What are your thoughts on this?
Do you think it's legitimate?
What strengths and weaknesses do you believe this approach has?
And I'd love to know if you ever struggle to meet this mark, or if you even think it's important.
Do you have a personal rule of thumb for measuring good representation of women (or any group) in fiction?

I'm not really looking for advice, but more so would love to have a discussion about what ever thinks of this idea , and female representation
in general. I've been thinking about this concept a lot recently and want to know what you're take on it is.

Comment below

It was legitimate in the 1980s when the test was invented—because all media industries absolutely failed at using A Female Character for anything else but a romantic subplot… anything at all…even as a leading lady, it would have to be for a romance! The new Little Women has any excellent rant about this, and it's fitting because the author of the original novel was also discouraged from writing a heroine who doesn't end up with a man romantically—and when the editor and publisher are the ones discouraging you, you kinda do what they say.

But since then…the media trends have gotten better. That's why there's the Mako Mori test, the Wilis test for songs, and basically evolving understanding of what representation the world would benefit from.