#origins of the Bechdel Test

[aviaris]

it’s been really strange consciously coming to terms with shit like “queer” and “t4t” independent art and media just really Not Being For Me, even though ostensibly i am both of those things.

I feel like I‘ve known it unconsciously for years, though. It’s why for as long as I care to remember I’ve self-described as a lesbian first, who is a trans woman second, and is never “queer” or “sapphic” or whatever other mealy-mouthed beating-around-the-bush “inclusive” terms.

And it took this long for me to really settle with it because I guess I didn’t want it to be true. That not only was I so disconnected experientially from straight people, but also from the majority of gay and trans people as well. I wanted there to be more common ground there than I guess there is. But there’s always been this genre of queer stuff for queers who Aren’t Me.

And I know I’m not the only dyke who would rather watch Yu Yu Hakusho and pretend Yusuke is butch than watch whatever new netflix project apparently actually has a trans woman in it, or whatever new NBC or CW show has a gay cop who never seems to actually touch her wife.

And it just feels strange, even though it’s not a new or unique feeling. I feel like a freak for getting so much more mileage out of Karala and Sheryl slapping each other in Space Runaway Ideon than whatever non-binary queer romance comic some 20-something is selling on itch. Shouldn’t the one of these that’s made On Purpose be more genuine, relatable, emotional? Shouldn’t I be getting something out of it?

[madame-helen]

[strongintherealgay]

tumblr just ate my post about how Alison Bechdel isn't as mainstream as I always think she is and honestly that feels fitting

[marinebiologi]

Everytime i talk to my friend about boys my academically conditioned mind is panicking in the background because we are actively failing the bechdel test

Does anyone else do that?

[vintagebutterfly]

I don't mind Mary Sues. I actually love self-inserts. But what I would really, really appreciate is if an OC-centric story was actually tagged as such.

So I can find it when I want to read it. And not read it when I don't.

[cotecoyotegrrrl]

Ellen Ripley - just a girl and her flamethrower out to save the world

[jerichopalms]

#152: Enola Holmes 2 (2022, dir. by Harry Bradbeer)

[totesmgoats01-published-author]

IMPORTANT QUESTION!!!

Are the rules of the Bechdel Test that two (or more) names characters who are women need to have a conversation about something other than a man?

OR

That two characters who are not men need to have a conversation about something other than a man?

Please I need your opinions on this because I NEED to know if my conversations pass the test PLEASE.

[felowtravler]

Here's my hot (though probably unoriginal?) take.

The Bechdel test is overrated. While it's a GREAT tool for identifying women's represtantion, it's binary, and frankly, humans don't always pass it. Yes, it was incredible for the 90s when it was popularized (the 90s, right?). It's an important piece of critical history. However, it is not the end all be all of criticism.

Even with binary people, there needs to be representation about men between men, just as there needs to be representation about women between women. I think it's great if something passes the test. However, I don't think critique of media should begin and end with the Bechdel test. It's ONE way to analyze a text.

If you flip the test and evaluate it based on "do 2 men have a convo not involving a woman?" that can tell you a lot.

If it fails the Bechdel test, does it fail the opposite? Is it that there aren't purely woman-centered conversations becuase it's sexist, or is it balanced between the "Two Primary Genders" (as is common in film, at least. Enbies are valid and deserve rep too!)

Is it sexist and unbalanced, or is it a story about a grandfather and grandson because it's based on the writer's experience? Or from her imagination? Or becuase they just liked the story and wanted to write about that kind of relationship dynamic?

Is it a text that's sexist, or is it centering other identities like class, race, and/or nationality? Intersectionality is important, so ideally films and books and everything else should involve women (and enbies) in those categories and beyond, but films should also be allowed to feature queer relationships and familial ties and friendships without awkwardly fitting in One Scene to technically Pass. Idk, I haven't thought tons about it, but I'm not a big fan of it being used as the The One Reason to hate media.

[nothingf-i-s-h-yhere]

Ah fuck my characters haven’t passed the bechdel test. shit shit shit ok I can fix this

Becca: hey there girl boss

Olivia: becca the fuck are you on about

Becca: I just wanted to talk to my friend who is a woman.

Olivia: dude are you ok do you need to lie down?

Becca: no I’m fine my feminine friend!

Olivia: that’s it im going to take a nap.

[aspiringwatcher]

homestuck vs dtwof is the strongest warrior of today vs the strongest warrior of history type of beat isn't it

[utilitymonstergirl]

Since the original intent of the Bechdel Test was more like “can I pretend these women are lesbians for five seconds,” I think it’d be funny to write a scene of two women graphically fucking while talking about men the whole time

[rhys-ravenfeather]

Theoretically speaking, if I were to do a Myth City/Oasis to Oakwood crossover comic where Shay and Maple just talked about how cool they thought the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were, that would technically pass the Bechdel Test.

[el-hijo-de-hernandez-27]

After so long I have finally finished my first Encanto fafic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43439418/chapters/109203570

[apas-95]

so is signalis anti-communist? i’d heard mixed reviews on that front

its developers are almost certainly anti-communists, but the game's anti-communism is essentially incidental, and, most importantly, it passes the communist version of the bechdel test -- where, rather than being able to pretend that two characters in a film are lesbians, as in the original bechdel test; you are instead able to see a portrayal of a totalitarian communist police-state dystopia and go 'yesssss ever forwards to victory over the imperialists!!!!'