Does Your Story Pass “The Bechdel Test”?

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So this is a thing—a thing that you, as a writer, should know about. According to Wikipedia:

The Bechdel Test, credited to Liz Wallace, was introduced in Alison Bechdel’s comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. In a 1985 strip titled “The Rule,” an unnamed female character says that she only watches a movie if it satisfies the following requirements: (1) It has to have at least two women in it, (2) who talk to each other, (3) about something besides a man.

People thought this was funny because it was sort of a true critique of Hollywood.

Then they thought, “Wow. If this is true critique, that’s pretty messed up.”

Thus the “Bechdel Test” was born as a sort of litmus test to find out how much Hollywood directors really cared about their female characters.

To pass the Bechdel Test, a movie:

  1. Has to have at least two women
  2. Who talk to each other
  3. About something besides a man

It seems simple, and yet it’s surprisingly difficult for Hollywood films to pass this test.

In fact, a whole web site has been set up to track which Hollywood films pass the test. Some vbloggers have also picked up on the test, such as this excellent “Feminist Frequency” episode.

In my humble opinion, all writers—screenwriters, novelists, short story writers—should be aware of the Bechdel Test and its implications… not because we shouldn’t have scenes where two women talk about a man, but because holding the test and its implications in mind can possibly free up more dramatic potential for scenes and avoid cliche.

Think about the opening scene for Swingers, for example, which is dramatic gold. The reason? It’s the opposite of the trope the Bechdel Test critiques, i.e., it’s unusual for two men to be portrayed as talking about a woman, which is why the film and its characters struck such a chord for people right from the opening sequence.

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231 thoughts on “Does Your Story Pass “The Bechdel Test”?”

  2. I’m amazed at the number of stories that have one woman character in it. The last three thrillers had casts over 100 — and only one woman character, who’s entire purpose was to be rescued.

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  5. I like to add to the Bechdel Test the stipulation that Miss Anita of Feminist Frequency does where a “conversation” constitutes more than just a handful of lines to one another. It does make it that much harder for a film to pass the test, but it makes it far more meaningful when a film does.

    I’m only saying this because I watched “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster” last night and it did have a part where two females were speaking to one another about something other than a man. It was just a handful of lines (six per actress I believe) so I didn’t really want to stamp it as “passed”. Besides that, I doubt kaiju movies were in mind when this test was first thought up. Not exactly Oscar caliber, know what I’m sayin’?

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      • Actually they weren’t. She was talking about how she was a Venusian and that the Earth was in danger. The reporter girl was like “yeah, okay, uhhuh, get out of those smelly rags and put these clothes on”. I suppose the danger in question being Ghidorah qualifies it being male, but I’m also going by the notion that “man” means “man that the woman has some sort of relation with”. Last I checked kaiju were not high on the romanceable list.

        Now that I think about it they really weren’t talking to one another so much as one was blabbing away and the other was thinking “this chick is nuts, but I need to get her to safety.” Like I said, I really can’t qualify it as a full conversation when it’s one-sided like that.

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        • Yipes. I’ve seen that movie over a dozen times, and I forgot the specific details of that scene. I have no excuse.

          In any case, would the Twin Faeries conversing with Mothra count? After all, Mothra is female (at least in the original Japanese versions of the films) so that is a total of three females talking about a subject other than a man. It is both bizarre and revealing that in the search to find a possible example of a movie passing the Bechdel Test we need to turn to a dialogue between two six inch tall mystical priestesses and a giant butterfly.

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      • That is simutaneously bizzar and revealing that we have to go this route just to find a movie that passes the test. You’re correct as Mothra is a “she” and the twins are certainly female. I don’t know if I should be depressed or baffled by it. Maybe both.

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  8. I had no idea there was such a thing! Awesome. My story passes. I mean, technically it does. My characters are lesbians and they’re talking about, well … women. I wonder if there’s a counterpart for stories with homosexual characters in it. :)

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  9. What do you do, however, if your comic topic is the so-called “battle of the sexes?” Sometimes, in the discussion about the opposite sex, whether from a male or a female point of view, deeper topics come to light, such as life choices.

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  11. I for one am really happy about all these new movies coming out like Bridesmaids and Bachelorette, with all-female leads that talk about things other than men. Those ought to bring up the Bechdel average a bit!

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  12. I officially love this test. As a filmmaker/screenwriter, it is disheartening to see women as desperate loners who need a man in their life, damsels in distress, or whores (paid or unpaid). Time for a change! Thanks for sharing this :)

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  14. It’s true about the one woman needing to be rescued in films with over 100 characters who are all men. Or, on the reverse side of the casting call, a bunch of women who are all fed up with men and come together to express their anguish.

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    • I thought you were going to say, “or, on the reverse side of the casting call, a film where one man needs to be rescued in a movie with 100 characters who are women.” That would be quite amusing, wouldn’t it??

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  15. There are critical components to a real critique of Hollywood movies, and that is the women have to be hot and skinny, and at least one has to show her breasts.

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  16. I watched a video about Harry Potter, and they talked about how girls love it so much because the female characters are actual characters who act realistically and are equally as important as the males. Blew my mind, suddenly I understood the greatness of the series. Personally, I find writing females kind of intimidating. As a pretty inexperienced writer, it’s a lot easier to stick with male characters.

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    • Thanks for your comment and for reading. I mean… women are human beings too just like everyone, so as long as you can understand the human condition it ought to follow that you can understand the female condition as well as the male… the thing that trips me up are all the details about fashion, and for that I have to ask my women friends so I don’t write something stupid ;-)

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      • Yes, and there are things about men that women need to ask about before writing as well. Still, there are many of us on this planet who don’t give a diddly about fashion (female) or sports (male) or whatever the problem may be, beyond having something clean and whole to wear or knowing which channel sports are going to be on so that we can turn them off until the end of the game, then turn to hear the score and highlights, which we can recite to amaze friends and relations.

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  20. I think this is a good thing to keep in mind. Thanks for informing us of it. If a woman can talk about more than a man, she becomes a more dimensional character that makes her relationship with a man (when she has one) all that more robust.

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  23. So, of course, all of us are interested in ways to critically review the stuff we write….. I hadn’t thought about it this way. I think I take for granted that conversations happen between People, regardless of what gender they are… but I will definitely be paying more attention to which characters are talking to which and about what, now. Thanks for bringing the subject up, and congrats on being Freshly pressed.

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  25. Well…today I learned something new (that I don’t think I will forget). The Bechdel Test — I will be discussing this test at a few dinner parties, I have a feeling. So cool. Thanks.

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  26. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed –and thank you for passing along the Bechdel test. Never heard of it! A few years ago I watched “Enchanted April” on a YouTube user’s channel (The Victorian Lady –she has uploaded this multi-part film and many more; on her “uploaded vids” page, scroll down and click on page 5 for Enchanted April), and I strongly suspect that along with “April” most of what she has uploaded passes the test!

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  28. Awesome! Mine does!
    (1) It has to have at least two women in it (Mine has four)
    (2) who talk to each other (They kinda pair off, but will interact eventually)
    (3) about something besides a man. (World domination of course! mwahahaha!)

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    • Very funny! The remark about world domination, I mean. What classic of Italian cinema is it that has about 100 female cyclists with helmets and no tops on chasing a man off a cliff, or something like that? It’s obviously a (sexist) man’s view of what a good death must be like (now, what can we women do to change that?)

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      • Cheers. The male ‘ideal death’ has always been associated with Italians, and Berlusconi the most likely to achieve it. Men and their hornbaggery. I’m male, and I don’t understand it sometimes.

        Now I just have to find a way for these women to achieve said goal… But that’s Book 7, and I just recently finished a first draft of Book 1 Chapter 1. Long road to go yet =S

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  29. Wow, interesting concept that I’ve never really thought about. Does it count if the man they talk about is their father? But they’re not really talking about their father? Not that I’ve recently written a short story using that idea or anything…

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    • Well, since they’re talking about a man, I would say that no, it would not pass the test… unless he’s not only not their father but also a woman in disguise… which would be a plot twist of Shakespearian proportions ;-)

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  31. I learned about this in my high school film class but I never thought to use it in my writing. I remember it being super hard for movies to pass, I hope books fair better. What a smart idea though! xoxo, -E

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    • Just about anything by Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters passes the test, because of what I would like to call “submerged main subjects.” That is, the sub-text of the novels is not about love, or getting married, or handsome men being discussed by women or brooding men and the women they choose, or any of that stuff at all. In Jane Austen, the real topics are sometimes scathing pictures of a society which PRETENDS to be centered upon marriage arrangements of a loving, dutiful sort, and yet which is centered around petty competitions and social rivalries, etc. And the brooding Heathcliff in “Wuthering Heights” and the other Byronic heroes and their ladies are all driven, “mad,” sadomasochistic characters below the surface, like C. Bronte’s “madwoman in the attic.” (You may remember that there’s a feminist guide to literature, out now for about 30-40 years, called “The Madwoman in the Attic.”) So, you could say that these are early attempts at psychology of the individual, or something like that. I’m just saying, even when something has a surface topic about love and marriage, that may not be what it’s “really” about.

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      • Oh yeah, I haven’t gotten through an English class since 6th grade that we didn’t have to map out the underlying conflicts and topics. That’s true. And of course, Jane Austen’s work is often a commentary on society as told through glimpses of relationships. However, since books, like films are windows into current and past society, I do give stock to the idea of conversation on topics other than men. Anyways, thanks or getting me thinking. xoxo, -E

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  32. Thank you for the insight! I already watch movies “differently” due to being a sometimes screenwriter but this will add an interesting layer to how I watch and write!

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  37. Great blog and food for thought – thank you.
    One of the 75 word stories in my book is called ‘The Conversation of Men’ which is two men talking about a woman … so can it work this way round???

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  46. I did a presentation on this recently for my French course at uni. Only two of the top 25 films in France in 2011 passed. Two. This includes ones written by women!
    I think that they should do the reverse-Bechdel test on the films as well. Do es a film have 2 men, who have a conversation, about something other than a woman? It would make it fairer – but the results would also be more shocking, I think.

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  47. Such a simple but pretty accurate measure of whether a work bothers about its female characters. It’s such a simple and adaptable thing, you could use it for race and sexuality as well as gender. Great post.

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  49. Phew! I passed the test on both my screenplay and novel. In fact, my novel works on the opposite of the test. :D

    I’d heard of this before – no idea where – but I hadn’t a clue what it actually was. Thanks for clearing it up!

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  52. Would this post pass the test? I think it would. Congratulations on the fresh press. I do wonder, however, why the test got the status it did… maybe something of a topic for your next post? TTFN

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  55. Hhhm… not sure about that one at all. Possibly a chick’s view?! I am one myself but I say this in the light of the IMDB’S list of best movies ever. 2. The Godfather (1972). Doubt there’s a whole lot of time allocated to two women who do not only talk about a man. 1. The Shawshank Redemption, happens to be my favourite drama, only Rita Hayworth on a poster, no talking!

    Nope, still think it’s based on a chick’s view, the Bechdel test. But then, many movies were and are passed off as chick flicks. Perhaps women watch movies more often than men so one has a better chance of scoring with a chick flick? Do many action movies have two women in them who do not only talk about a man? I doubt it but they sure are the rage (those & SciFi).

    When it comes to fiction, a shocking amount of men prefer non-fiction to novels and such. Again, the Bechdel test seems like a very female gauge indeed.

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    • LOL. I love Fun Home. And if you ONLY talked to other women about men, that might be a problem… but given the amount of stupidity that exists with the male genre, some percentage of discussion is probably appropriate ;-)

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  60. Ah, yes, the Bechdel test. ^_^ I am so glad I clicked over onto this blog.

    I am currently writing a book that I think passes the Bechdel test (and which was engineered to do exactly that) and I find it a very interesting experience. But does it count if the only men that they talk about are on the periphery like a waiter or someone like that?

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    • Very interesting, Jessica! Good luck with the book. If I understand things right, it’s fine for the women to talk about men… they just have to talk about something OTHER than men at some point … as one of my commenters said, she doesn’t pass the test 40 percent of the time… but hey, we all talk about the opposite sex now and then –there’s nothing wrong with that :-)

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  64. I certainly want to pass this test when I publish my screen play. What I am wondering about who can possibly be the two women I would pick to play the parts. It would probably have to be me and my sister. Thanks for the tip. We learn something every day.

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  69. Interesting. Movies often mirror the zeitgeist. So, that makes me wonder why more women haven’t spoken up that most movies fail the Bechdel test. They do trivialize the interactions between women that don’t mention men. And we men talk to each other about women more often than movies would have you believe.
    Also, I saw Swingers for the first time a week ago. I didn’t find the movie as great as its fans make it out to be, but I’ll watch the opening scene again.
    Nice post. Congrats on getting Freshly Pressed.

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  70. Well, what do women talk about together that has nothing to do with men? I really tried to put some thought into it and I just couldn’t find an answer.
    Besides, Women almost always have a strong presence in stories, sometimes it seems that two women is more than enough already.

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        • So you’ve never heard women talk about politics? Never heard them talk about cooking? Never heard them compare notes in what they might be studying in class?

          Your “two women is more than enough already” leads me to believe you’re being something of a troll so I’ll just end my quesitons there.

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          • Well, not really. I haven’t. I wish I’d hear more women talking about politics, maybe I’d would have found much more interest in them if that were the case.
            I heard them compare notes, but I don’t really count that. Comparing notes won’t be something really interesting to write about in a story.

            Well, it really depends on the story. Films like “The Ledge” or “When Nietzsche Wept” who don’t pass the Bechdel test, their female characters have a really firm presence and that’s without having them talk to each other. I’m really not a troll, and I’m sorry if I might have come up as such.

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            • I think we might be having a slight communications problem here. In your first comment you said:

              “Well, what do women talk about together that has nothing to do with men? I really tried to put some thought into it and I just couldn’t find an answer.”

              You made it sound like women — not just in film but women everywhere in everyday life — never talk about anything that doesn’t have to do with men. Without adding a mention that you were just talking about women in film or stories then your statement comes off as sounding extremely narrow-minded.

              Your follow up words of “two women is more than enough already” is also another narrow-minded statement. You make it sound like you are saying that any film or story with more than one woman in it is not necessary. That one woman’s presence in a film is all that’s needed.

              This is what I contrived from your words.

              The Bechdel Test does not have anything to do with how strong a presence the female character is. There are TONS of movies out there with strong (be it mentally, physically, or emotionally) female characters. That part is great. That part is awesome. Films and stories need to continue that trend. What they need to change is those same strong female characters only talking to other female characters about the men that surround them. Depending on the film or story there are tons of ways for a conversation like that to happen, yet for some reason it isn’t commonplace.

              This all boils down to the horrific belief that women never have anything interesting to say unless it has to do with a man. It is a stereotypical Hollywood mentality that continues to downplay a woman’s role in society and it really needs to stop. The Bechdel Test will be a measure of that in the years to come.

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              • Good points you make here. There are often strong women characters on the screen and in literature, but they are rarely shown as having relationships with each other, coming together and defining themselves, and talking about themselves in their own right as opposed to being in relationship to the male world.

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    • Join a high-powered lit class. Stories aren’t reality; in a lit class, you can hear both women and men discussing life strategies, philosophies, symbolism, etc., a whole host of things which have nothing to do with the so-called war between the sexes, though that inevitably crops up too. Stories are meant to be illustrative of human beings and their lives, and it’s a really sad day for lit. if you can’t think of anything beyond feeling overcome by the presence of more than two women.

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      • It’s not that I’m feeling overcome, but the thing is that in the films I watch, women have a very strong presence, which is good, because without their presence, the films would’ve been very boring. Let’s take the films “The Ledge” and “Went Nietzsche Wept” for example (I am aware of the fact that ‘When Nietzsche Wept’ is based on a novel, I haven’t read it yet, but I will.) In one of the films (When Nietzsche Wept) you have more female characters than male, yet they do not interact with each other and most of the interaction is between the primary male characters.

        In the other one, “The Ledge”, you have more male characters than female, yet the primary interaction is between the male and the female, thus the woman in the film has a very strong presence and influence.

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  71. I’ll keep that in mind next time I write about “The Bechdel Test” but I think I’ve had two women talk about something other than a man, or men, and that is a good thing to keep in mind though. .

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    • Thanks for the reblog. Yeah, I wasn’t trying to say that every story has to meet the test, but that it’s a good thing to think about in relationship to your own writing to find out whether you are fully drawing out the female characters as much as they could be.

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  77. I’m always embarrassed at how a lot of my stories fail the Bechdel Test. I tend to write about a single girl who’s “one of the guys” because I had a lot of inspiration to draw upon. Ironically one of my stories that does pass the test was written in high school, a time when one of the things I really cared about was getting a boyfriend.

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    • Thanks for the comment! I don’t think it’s something to worry about too much, there are all kinds of stories out there… but this is one way to make sure you’re giving your female characters full citizenship :-)

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  78. ooh i love this. bechdel is an amazing writer and i take all her writing advice to heart. it’s pathetic to think that this is something we actually have to be aware of, but the more i think about it, the more i realize that it’s true. thank you for sharing and perhaps we can all work individually to make change by keeping this in mind.

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  79. Huh. I never thought of this before, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m finding myself running through hundreds of movies, tv shows, and books in my head, trying to find some that pass the test!

    For the record, all three of the stories I’m currently working on pass, although one comes within a hairs-breadth of failing (one woman and one man, who is her best friend, talking about a man…lol). I’m definitely going to make sure to keep this test in mind in the future! Thanks for sharing!

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  80. well how about Soul Surfer … girls who talk about little else but surfing :-) and are they NEVER allowed to talk about boys or is it just not meant to be there main topic?

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  81. I do feel like the formula for any Hollywood film is to have the female be a romantic interest in it, and frankly that bothers me a bit. I think that if more writers look to this test, we could really get out of the funk of re-told, unoriginal stories that have been thrown at us and really start to see something interesting. Good article by the way! I enjoyed it thoroughly :D

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  82. Interesting post. Great that you are encouraging writers to think more about how women are portrayed in stories and movies, which will hopefully mean future female characters will have a lot more depth :) I have a comment about a particular paragraph:

    “In my humble opinion, all writers—screenwriters, novelists, short story writers—should be aware of the Bechdel Test and its implications… not because we shouldn’t have scenes where two women talk about a man, but because holding the test and its implications in mind can possibly free up more dramatic potential for scenes and avoid cliche.”

    Although having this test in mind might create more dramatic potential and avoid cliches and stereotypes – which is always a good thing – the Bechdel Test may also help create authenticity in one’s work as real women actually do talk about things other than men. Unbelievable I know ;)

    Long live the Bechdel Test :)

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  83. It says quite a bit about our society when we all pre-screen our storylines against the Bechdel test. As you’ve said, many movies fail. I’m glad that people are aware of where we are leading ourselves, and congrats on the FP to bring this to our attention.
    Kudos to you!
    Cheers,
    iRuniBreathe

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  84. Wow, you can bet everytime I’m watching a movie now I’m going to have to verify if it passes the Bechdel test or not! What an interesting post, thanks so much for sharing! Congrats on FP!

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  88. Never thought about this but great concept! It’s too often implied that we degrade women (and men) in our society, so I like that we have this and it makes us think outside the box a little bit more.
    Congrats on being freshly pressed!

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  91. Ah…the Bechdel test! I took a gender and sexuality class where we reviewed recent movie trailers, and found that every “blockbuster” film followed essentially the same formulaic plot. Not surprisingly, the formula was the antithesis of the Bechdel test criteria. Since moviegoers pay to see and support these movies, is it the industry or the audience that continues to perpetuate such bland, stereotyped films?
    - “You’re so money and you don’t even know it!”

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  92. There are, of course, so many things for women to talk about, both in life and fiction. Men are, of course, a favorite and perplexing subject, and women are so prone to analyzing them. Most of my stories/books have female protagonists, and I never thought to force them to talk about one thing or another. A real and fully-realized character will have other things besides men on her mind, even of they are an obsession. Anything else is one-dimensional, something that a lot of blockbuster movies don’t care about.

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  101. As like many others, I never heard of the Bechdel test. Very informative post! Also, thank you for stopping by and liking my post. Much appreciated!

    Best,
    Nett

    Reply ↓

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