Other Media Testsīut hey, women are only one of a beautifully wide range of people poorly represented in media! So there are tests for other marginalized groups as well. (It’s meant, of course, to call out gender roles, not biological factors.)Įditor and fandom expert Jenn Northington’s Tauriel test just asks that in a given work, at least one woman be good at what she does. The Ellen Willis test requires the story (or pop song) to make sense if the genders were flipped. An example of its tridimensional results: The Crystal Gems test, designed by critic Locuas and named after the cartoon heroes in Steven Universe, combines the three above tests, and adds a scale for each - because we deserve to raise our standards. Especially if, as Tumblr user shitifindon suggested, you’re allowed to stick a Post-It on the sexy lamp. The satirical Sexy Lamp test by comics writer Kelly Sue DeConnick (co-creator of Pretty Deadly and Bitch Planet) is the easiest to pass: If your female character could be replaced by a sexy lamp without the plot falling apart, “YOU’RE A FUCKING HACK.” Naturally, many movies fail it. Writer Roxane Gay proposed a six-part test: Is there a central female character, with supporting female characters, who doesn’t compromise herself for love or live extravagantly for no explained reason? And at least half the time, is this character a woman of colour, transgender, and/or queer? Gay’s sixth point is a non-requirement: Female characters “shouldn’t have to live up to an unrealistic feminist standard.” They can be flawed, so long as they feel like real human beings. A film passes this test if “1) one female character 2) gets her own narrative arc 3) that is not about supporting a man’s story.” The test is more subjective than Bechdel’s, but of course so is the issue they both address. Tumblr user Chaila invented the Mako Mori test after noting that Pacific Rim fails the Bechdel Test despite a strong female character, while Thor passes it. But Bechdel’s isn’t the only popular test for media’s portrayal of women. It’s the basis of a ratings stamp in some Swedish theatres, and it’s one of many check-box criteria on screenplay database The Black List. The standard is used in industry revenue analysis (showing that passing films outperform failing ones) and in annual Oscar wrap-ups. One chart of over 7,000 films indicates representation slowly improving since the 70s: Multiple organisations keep a running Bechdel scorecard of feature films. Club’s Caroline Siede points out, it raises basic awareness of the massive gender disparity in media: Very few movies would fail a reverse Bechdel test for men.Īnd it’s a strong measure of female representation across an industry. Setting that low bar has many valid uses, which is why it’s so popular. As her character Mo puts it in the comic, “Last movie I was able to see was Alien.” Bechdel invented the test with her friend Liz Wallace to set a low bar that many Hollywood movies still can’t clear. XZVPlJCrDGīechdel’s test, popularised in her comic Dykes to Watch Out For, was never intended to wholly define a film as “feminist” or “sexist.” After all, “Baby Got Back” passes it. From last night #TheSimpsons: When it comes to her test, Alison Bechdel isn’t messing around.
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