This Bechdel Test Simulator Shows How Easy It Is to Predict Who Makes Sexist Movies (Men)
LatestA new study about the representation of women in Hollywood thoroughly confirms what you have probably long ago come to perceive: most films do not come anywhere close to passing the Bechdel Test.
The Bechdel Test is Allison Bechdel’s simple test of any work of fiction: does it include two women who talk to each other about something other than a man? New research by Lyle Friedman, Matt Daniels and Ilia Blinderman examines the 4,000 films on bechdeltest.com and the overwhelming maleness of the industry, and their findings make a lot of sense: when women are involved with the making of a film, it has a much higher chance of passing the Bechdel Test.
When writing teams are entirely male, about 50% of films fail the Bechdel test. Add a woman to the mix and only a third of films fail. The seven films written entirely by women all pass the Bechdel test. Uncanny, right?
The Bechdel Test of course is not a perfect measurement—“oh my god, Becky, look at her butt” passes it—but this work nonetheless yields some interesting takeaways about Hollywood’s sexism.