ARE THERE ANY WOMEN IN IT?
Have any of you heard of the Bechdel Test?
It's a simple test for examining the presence (or absence) of female characters in movies.
The test was devised by the great feminist cartoonist and writer Alison Bechdel (whose book "FUN HOME", by the way, is one of my 10 favorite memoirs of all time.)
Basically, here is the test, which is glaringly (and almost embarrassingly) simple. You look at a movie and you ask yourself these three easy questions:
1) Are there more than two female character in this film — who actually have names?
2) If so, do the two or more women ever speak to each other?
3) If they do speak to each other, do they ever speak about anything other than the male characters?
It is ASTONISHING how many films fail this simple test.
Click here to see a list of 10 famous films that fail:
And now let us think about books. How many great novels of history can pass this test?
Let this be my answer as to why I write books about women.
Onward,
Liz
