Do you know what Bechdel Test is? Also known as the Bechdel Wallace test, it calculates gender inequality in movies, games and other media. Nowadays we are much more aware of social problems. It is impossible not to notice that some groups do not have many good representations. This is equally true of women, despite the fact that they make up half of the world’s population. But as we well know, this world was not and still is not fair to women, and we are now trying to fix that. Do you want to know more about what exactly the Bechdel-Wallace Test is all about? Read on and test your knowledge in our trivia.
How was the Bechdel-Wallace Test created? There is a really interesting story behind it. Why is the Bechdel-Wallace Test so important? What principles is the Bechdel-Wallace Test based on? You can find all this here, we have prepared a description for you with all the most important information.
It is interesting to note that the Bechdel-Wallace Test came about as a result of a certain scene from the comic book. The American author and cartoonist of the comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For created a scene where one of the comic’s characters admits that she only goes to the cinema to see movies that feature at least two women, whose dialogues are not limited to talking about men.
It must be admitted that when we watch movies we sometimes don’t pay attention to patterns that repeat themselves. But notice that, especially in action films like James Bond, there are not many women. Only beautiful actresses and models are placed there to show how gorgeous the man playing the main role is. Some people are already heavily bored with these schemes, people want real representation of women.
Do you like series with strong female characters? Test yourself with the Wednesday Trivia or Queen’s Gambit Quiz!
For years there has been an official Bechdel-Wallace Test website, where you can check gender inequality statistics in many media from around the world. But how does the Bechdel-Wallace Test identify these inequalities? There are three rules that a given movie must pass. Here they are:
As you can see, the scene in the comic book was a really good idea, because it turned out that many films do not pass these rules. And yet these are not some demanding rules! It just shows that we don’t put the same effort into creating female characters as we do into creating male characters.
Nowadays, people are more interested in social problems, wishing to correct the mistakes of the people of the past. Some still argue that gender inequality doesn’t really exist. But these people are often simply uninformed on the subject, because once you learn some historical and sociological facts, you can’t deny it.
Everyone has at least a cursory knowledge of history. If only by watching movies based on Jane Austen’s novels, we can see that until a few hundred years ago women had virtually no rights. And since such a group of people was treated as the inferior one for hundreds of years, even after the restoration of most rights, the prejudice still remains. We also see this in other inequalities – slavery no longer exists, but racism is still a big problem.
Another interesting quiz? Take this one – Can You Name These 1960s TV Shows?
It is worthwhile to be understanding when talking about serious problems that people experience. Gender inequality is not just about movies that don’t feature women. Prejudice against women leads to violence against women. So we should do everything we can to protect our mothers, wives, partners or female friends.
Returning to the topic, there are many well-known films that failed the Bechdel-Wallace Test. Some are quite surprising. If you want to see if your favorite films have passed the Bechdel-Wallace Test go to their original site and check for yourself. But don’t be worried if it turns out they didn’t pass. It doesn’t always indicate sexism when you also consider the context and the values the film conveys. Just because you like movies that didn’t pass the Bechdel Test doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. The most important thing is that you should be aware of the inequalities that exist.
One of the films that did not pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test is the first Avatar movie. This film features more than two female characters, but they don’t talk about anything other than men. It’s too bad they didn’t show Neytiri in a more profound way, showing her true personality.
How about movie-related quizzes? Take these Which Movie Best Describes Your Future or How Well Do You Know Star Wars Characters.
Other films that can shock are the entire trilogy of Lord of the Rings films. There were a lot of female characters there, too, but again they were just an “extra” to the extraordinary adventures of the men. Although it must be admitted that the scene with Éowina taking part in the battle herself was progressive for the times in which it came out.
Yet another film that has not passed a single Bechdel-Wallace Test rule is the iconic Shawshank Redemption! It’s true that most of the plot took place in a prison full of men, but that doesn’t mean there are no women in this world. There were even female characters, but they didn’t have names or much dialogue.
Many people note that the Bechdel-Wallace Test is not perfect. This test takes into account the appearance of female characters and their role in a film, but fails to recognize the context and message of a given film. Failure of the test does not always mean overt sexism.
However, the Bechdel Test has made us aware of a lot. Only by gathering all the films and analyzing the female characters did it give us an understanding of how male characters dominate the films. There are also films with more female characters like the adaptation of the book Little Women, but there are far fewer such films. Either way, the Bechdel Test, while not ideal, gave us a lot to think about when it comes to feminist themes. We know that we still need to work to create a better world.
Can you guess if these films passed the Bechdel-Wallace Test? Take our knowledge-checking test and see how many you hit! We have prepared twenty well-known films. Try to solve the test without checking these movies on the original Bechdel Test site. The result will surely surprise you! Don’t forget to send your friends this test. Have fun and compare your results! It will be interesting to see who will turn out to be a real cinema expert and a feminist!
