Feminism and the Bechdel Test

Hello, friends.

Over the past few months, it seems feminism has resurfaced in my life. Whether it's because many of my close girlfriends have graduated college, like me, and entered into the "real world" with all of its associated challenges (particularly for females), or because of other random coincidences in the universe, it has come to the forefront of more and more of my discussions lately. I regularly receive articles about feminism via text from different female friends, get e-mails with links to inspiring TED Talks about women from others, and have had a few exchanges about The Bechdel Test with a (very patient) male friend of mine. Since many (if not all?) religions treat men and women differently, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad, this topic is highly relevant in an interfaith context.

Let me establish right upfront that I am by no means what I would call a "militant" feminist. I am even almost loathe to describe myself as a "feminist" because of all the negative associations with the term because of people who take the cause too far. The exact definition of "feminism," according to Merriam-Webster, is "the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities." Not that women should dominate men...and not that men should dominate women. Equality, that's what it's supposed to all be about. There are numerous issues to discuss, so for now I will start with the Bechdel Test, and continue in later posts to look at other feminist issues and how we can use feminism in an interfaith context.

The Bechdel Test

I am a self-described lover of movies, and I love all different types--action, rom coms, mysteries, indies, etc. So when I was first introduced to the idea of the Bechdel Test, and started using this test to evaluate movies, I grew fairly disheartened about our supposedly "modern" society. This test, which grew out of one short comic strip from 1985, is a simple way to judge female presence in a film. The test in no way decides whether the film is a good one, or if it represents women in a positive light, or indeed anything beyond the simple fact of female presence in the story. The requirements for a movie to pass the Bechdel Test are: 1. That there are at least two [named] female characters 2. who talk to one another [for more than thirty seconds] 3. about something other than a man.* Easy, right? Nope.

How many romantic comedies have young women loved, cried, watched over and over again, as if the whirlwind romances will come true in real life if we just watch The Notebook one more time? If you look back at a lot of the rom coms, you might realize that the women only talk to one another about men. Superhero movies sometimes have a few "token" female characters--but they are all too often dressed in tight, revealing leather outfits, and they rarely have another female character to talk with about anything. Action films are pretty obviously male-dominated.

Here's Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow from The Avengers in extremely tight, low-cut leather. That movie has three named women, none of whom talk to one another.

 

It's distressing to think about how little representation women have in films as strong people, able to succeed in life, independently and sometimes in spite of men. Is it so much to ask that movies accurately represent the many aspects of female life, and not just the part about romantic relationships? I doubt that there are more than a handful of films that don't have men interacting with other men. Can you imagine? A film with only one guy, the movie is completely about the women, and he just talks to the women sometimes. I can tell you one thing: traditional wisdom and statistics indicate that men wouldn't go see a movie like that, but women are willing to watch films almost exclusively about men. But is that even the case? This article in The Guardian suggests that is no longer the case.

It's a sad commentary on our society if we are willing to accept this status quo as it is. Since many faiths also teach about the dignity of all human beings, shouldn't religious folks also feel the need to combat this obvious of an oversight? If Hollywood started producing more balanced films, people would see them--media plays a large role in social change. I wonder what would happen if A-list actors refused to be in movies that didn't pass the test, or if the public refused to see the movies. For those who are interested in checking out how different movies stack up, you can check out this fairly extensive Bechdel Test website (please note, the ratings are not perfect, since the website allows anyone to leave reviews, but it's a good starting point for looking at how our favorite movies fall). Fortunately enough, my favorite movie passes the test, so I will have to be content with that for now. :)

I was recently told by one of my priest-professors (who majored in performing and fine arts in college) that there is a type of unspoken rule in Hollywood that, unless the film is about religion specifically, they try to keep references to religion fairly general so that they do not inadvertently ostracize people who are not part of that particular faith. So I've been thinking about some movies with religious references, through this feminist lens.

One of the most obvious movies with a religious tilt and a favorite of mine is A Walk to Remember, a 2002 movie with Mandy Moore and Shane West. Without giving too much away, it shows how the pious daughter of a Christian minister grows close with a rebellious young man, and how he changes for the better as a result of their interactions. The Bechdel website gives this a positive rating, but really the only reason it passes is because twice, the "mean" girl in school, who is angry with Mandy Moore for "stealing" Shane West away, comments sarcastically on her modest clothing: "Nice sweater!" "Thanks." barely seems like it should count as "female interaction" to me, especially when the underlying meaning was, "You stole my boyfriend and you're too religious." So it's not even positive female interaction. That said, the film clearly shows Mandy Moore as an intelligent woman, sure of herself, who adheres to the tenets of her faith. But there are still more conversations between men than there are between women in this film.

Albeit briefly, the 2012 film The Avengers brings religion into the equation. As most people know, there are two "gods," Thor and Loki, in the film. One causes havoc, the other fights for peace. They are not discussed in any religious sense, until this exchange between the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Captain America (a positive figure, a stereotyped male from the '40s with a lot of American pride and honorable, old-fashioned values):

[Captain America puts on a parachute to go follow after Thor, Loki, and Iron Man]

Black Widow: I'd sit this one out, Cap.

Captain America: I don't see how I can.

Black Widow: These guys come from legend. They're basically gods.

Captain America: There's only one G-d, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that.

[Captain America leaps out of the Quinjet]

The line made many of the religious girls in the audience instantly fall in love with Captain America (or was that just me?), but as mentioned above in the picture caption--this film doesn't pass, since none of the named women speak to one another. So we have film that offers a nod to mainstream American monotheism, ignores the polytheistic/Norse/pagan references to Thor and Loki as gods, and have very few women, all of whom are dressed in tight outfits. Not such a success for women.

Of course, the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof deserves a mention. For those who haven't seen it, this film details the experience of Jews facing religious persecution in eastern Europe in the early 20th century. It's an excellent film, and one that presents an interesting perspective on Judaism and how it adapts to changing times. But does it pass the test? Though it is not on the Bechdel Test website, I suspect it might--if only because at the end two sisters say goodbye to one another. Literally, I think all other conversations by women are focused on finding husbands ("Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match..."), though perhaps there are brief mentions of the troubles facing the Jews in the town. It was a different time period...but still, much as I love the movie, it could use some discussion amongst the women about other issues. (Incidentally, I just watched Fiddler a few weeks ago one Saturday night with a group from one of my classes. Let's just say, hearing one of the priests sing along to "Matchmaker" makes my world a brighter place.)

There are numerous other religious films we could talk about, these were just some that came to mind. So even religious films, despite the fact that Christianity and Judaism (the two main faiths represented in the above three movies) emphasize the dignity of all, do not always give due representation to women. It's extremely unfortunate.

So the next time you head out to see a movie, take a minute to evaluate it. Does it even, at the bare minimum, have two named female characters, talking about something or somebody other than a man? I hope so. This is a problem for minority religious groups as well, which are grossly underrepresented in film, but the fact that women--who form half of the population--are considered for this a "minority" group is a sad thing in today's day and age. We need to change this. We need to make a conscious effort to get female presence in films.

Now go out and love one another.

<3,
Allyson

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*Please note, for a movie to pass the Bechdel Test, some do not require that the female characters have names, or that the conversations should last for at least thirty seconds. If the main Bechdel Test website listed above required the thirty-second thing, I imagine the number of movies that pass on their website would go down quite dramatically.