The Bechdel Test

‘The Bechdel Test’ was inspired by Alison Bechdel‘s comic book ‘The Rule’ which became a measure to see if women* are fairly represented in a film.

Passing or failing the test is not necessarily indicative of how well women* are represented in any specific work. Rather, the test is used as an indicator for the active presence of women* in the entire field of film and other fiction, and to call attention to gender inequality in fiction. Media industry studies indicate that films that pass the test perform better financially than those that do not.

The test:

• It must have at least two female* characters.
• They must both have names.
• They must talk to each other about something other than a man*