Women were made to fall down
by westwood
Have you ever heard of the Bechdel Test?
I hadn’t either. It’s not a real scientific or psychological test, but it does tell us a lot about how women are viewed in popular culture and society at large. It’s named for its creator, comic strip artist Alison Bechdel. To pass the Bechdel Test, a movie or show must meet these three criteria:
- It includes at least two women (who have names)
- Who talk to each other
- About something other than a man (or men).
Think about some major movies. Lord of the Rings? Fail. Wall-E? Fail. Home Alone? Fail. Even scripts based on writing by women… like Harry Potter… fail the test. An entire listing of movies and how they do on the test can be found at this database. For another good summary, check out this video.
This is just one of the myriad of ways to expose how women are quietly socially subjugated in popular culture. Another is the ‘women falling down trope’. In romantic comedies, ‘strong’ women are made to fall down, specifically so that they can seem vulnerable and be rescued by a man.
Think about your favourite movies? Do they pass? Tell me in the comments.
Do you think men and women are on equal footing? Yet another reason to think again.
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Filed under: feminism | 25 Comments
Tags: bechdel test, feminism, lord of the rings, movies, women
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Recent Comments
This makes me wonder if this works on us too; meaning when I see a film do I like strong vulnerable women better, I guess now I will never know because I will consciously be thinking about it during films.
Great post! (:
I admit, I laughed at the video! Being a guy, even if a women in a former life, I may not fully understand this issue. I come from an interesting background here. My dad, also a surgeon, trained the first woman ever in his specialty. I trained the first woman in the residency program I directed. I know in my career and life I imagine, there have been barriers which I have had to sometimes overcome and sometimes just move on from. I think I try to look for the “us” in life rather than the “them.”
One of my favorite movies, “The Last of the Mohicans,” with Daniel Day Lewis was not on the list, but I think it may pass the test
This is certainly an important area where our world still has a long way to go.
I barely remember that movie, but from what I remember I’m not entirely sure it does. Good movie, though!
And it’s amazing what lingers, even in modern times.
Interesting. I didn’ tknow such a thing existed. I have to check out which films fail the test…and see if I even noticed.
I know I still find it strange in a public setting that women are treated differently. Not necessarily better or worse in some cases, but I don’t know of any guy scientists who are asked (as I often am) if they have children when they are first introduced to people…
I was annoyed that even strong women like Aeowyn in Lord of the Rings were still besotted by a man in the film…
The Eowyn thing similarly irks me. I can’t recall if that plotline was in the book, too… I know the Eowyn/Faramir thing was, though (and omitted from the regular addition of the movie).
Interesting topic. My favorite movie, like someone above, is Last of the Mohicans. I’d have to watch it again to see if it passes. Another favorite, A Brilliant Mind” is a movie about the mathematician John Nash. Their is only one female co-lead, Jennifer Connolly, and she has discussions with other women but they are about Nash. Probably doesn’t pass.
Even footing? Not yet, but trends in early education (elementary) seem to put young women in the passing seat, while young men are left behind. The balance is difficult to find but we must keep searching.
On the last part, I agree. Universities are now between 60 and 70% women in North American institutions. However, most of the professors, especially those in more senior positions, are men.
I read an interesting book awhile back on how men who are now aged 18-30 have lost their sense of purpose as providers for women and, feeling emasculated, have turned to video games and other diversions rather than productive pursuits. While the presumption seemed like conjecture, many of the facts brought up were sobering and interesting.
Because of your comment I talked to a teacher here with many years of experience and her feeling was that in this area the elementary schools like to have young men as teachers because many children do not have a father in their lives and the school system feels this would give the children an opportunity for a positive male role model.
This is one of the reasons why I abhor romantic comedies: the women are always so besotted, predictable, and flat. However, I would beg to differ about Harry Potter simply because it has very strong women in it like McGonnagel, who takes no guff off anyone and is extremely intelligent. Hermione, the female lead only resorts to the cliched role when she is pissed at Ron, but other than that, she is reasoned and presented as the most intelligent of the three.
Just saying.
wow, great point. i never actually thought about it that way. u def have a point tho, they wouldn’t call them romantic comedy’s if the movie wasn’t about some poor girl who has been hurt, will be hurt, has to be rescued by a guy blah blah blah. so much for woman empowerment huh?
I hate all romantic “comedies,” wedding, fertility, and pregnancy movies. I don’t have TV but love movies…and refusing to watch these genres really cuts into what’s available. I once had a woman call me to ask if I wouldn’t mind not having dinner with her and her boyfriend planned for that evening, because “I’m going to try to get him to ask me to marry him.” This was twenty years ago, and not much has changed. All those smarts used for manipulation instead of communication. Ugh.
I can’t think of a single recent movie that passes the test, but lately I’ve been watching episodes of The Wire on Netflix, and that show had several strong female characters with names who talked to each other about something besides men. Alas, such good writing is rare!
Interesting “test” – had not heard of it before. Video clips make you wonder what is really going on here with regard to female character/plot device development…or lack thereof.
Women’s interest having to revolve around men (seducing them, for example) and women’s needs having to be met by men (changing a tire, for example), those are such powerful and prevalent images that we don’t even question them, most of the time.
We might have evolved. It’s not as bad as it used to be in the 50s and 60s: just watch the new movie The Help and notice how the main character is pressured into finding good husband while not getting much positive reactinons to her pprofessional ccomplishments. But we still view the world with the heterosexual glasses: women belong with men, men belong with women, they have to form an exclusive couple, and they need each other for their survival. I am tired of this dogma, I have to say.
Well put! I wonder if it will persist or if our grandchildren will look back and deem us as crazy as we deem the 50s facade of the nuclear family.
Given the divorce rate, it seems obvious that the nuclear family – and the exclusive life-long couple – is an utopia. And those couples who last? Look at them closely. Are they really as happy as we think?
Take money and mutual dependency out of the equation… what is left to justify marriage (and the equivalent)?
Now, is there a difference with same sex couples, do they fare better, that has yet to be addressed.
And of course, once you have children, you usually want to live with them full-time; that becomes a challenge when the co-parents do not want to live under the same roof.
Solytion, someone?
Some animals do mate for life, but humans being? One is entitled to wonder.
never heard of this test before, but i’m going to tell all my female friends about it.
very interesting link to the movie rankings too and yeah, just becuz a movie passes the test doesn’t make it a female-friendly or feminist movie or say anything about the central theme of the movie. (i’m looking at the example of “Eat, Pray, Love”, even though it passes the test, the movie is about the men in the main character’s life).
your words “how women are quietly socially subjugated in popular culture” really grabbed me. i can tell you that, as woman, it is not quiet. it is loud, it is obvious and, in many ways, it is a form of violence against women.
great post, westwood.
Thanks! Tell your male friends about it, too
I agree, it’s often loud and violent. Those are the obvious ways we can point to. But it has a more insidious creep that (unfortunately) has wormed its way into everything. Example being that youtube clip… the women in those movies are initially presented as strong and successful… but immediately made to seem incompetent and in need of a saviour male figure. It’s everywhere we look for it, and everywhere we don’t.
I wish I knew how to fix it, but getting out the word is a start!
oh, i absolutely will tell my males friends and family about it too! i’m lucky that i have many “male feminists” in my life.
yeah, the whole thing about women suddenly needing “saving” is so very insulting – so many women know they don’t, but they accept the lie we are fed any way.
sorry, as with everything, i believe that the fix is to be radical – tear it all down and start again with reason and compassion at the core and let everything flow from there…i know i’m completely unrealistic.
Very interesting post. I cannot stand romantic comedies at this point in my life, but when I was younger and single, I enjoyed them. I’m not sure what the attraction was, but over time they are now one of my least favorite types of movies. I just recently watched the first Chronicles of Narnia movie and the White Witch was awfully strong and in control. At least until the end. . .
Oh dear, don’t even get me started on this! I get so irate I tend to launch into sputtering, raving, interminable tirades about the ubiquitous sexism in the media (particularly movies) and scare the crap out of innocent bystanders.
Seems to me most women are used to cheerfully setting aside their own point of view and seeing things through male eyes. Whereas most men simply won’t go to see any sort of movie that isn’t told through their point of view. The fact that people are able to identify occasional strong women’s roles in films, when we make up HALF the damn population, does little to make me feel better about the situation.
Back in the 70′s I used to think it was due to male oppression, blah blah blah, but I’ve come to believe that a huge number of women are quite content in a world where men are heroes and women are love interests. I’ve never been happy with that (and don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’m not heterosexual). Have always loved Alison Bechdel and her test has amused me (and depressed me) for years. Glad to hear it referenced again!
I rarely see hollywood movies anymore, because they’re always so boy-focused. But on the bright side, TV seems to be getting quite a bit better about including strong female protagonists.
Great blog by the way, found you by way of Dr. J.
Well it sure made me think. I do not have a TV but watch TV series on dvd and movies. The first to come to my mind is the film Serenity which came after the tv series Firefly both past the test and show equal women roles. The man can not fly without the woman to fix the machine and yes they do talk to each other about many things not just man/men.
An other series Battlestar Galactica but this is such a long series that there was no way around that women were talking about more than men or man.
In many cases in modern media women are more seen as sex-symbols rather than characters, even when fighting.
That’s really interesting, I’ll be thinking about that next time I watch a film. I tend to have obscure tastes, my favourite movies are usually European art house films, but that’s no guarantee of them being more likely to pass the test.
I think that the society of men and women are equal ~
The Royal Tannenbaums?