Invisible Women

            A few weeks ago in class we stumbled upon an image of the classic Disney princesses with texts that shed light on the message they actually send. An incredibly sexist message for girls and boys who may perceive that women can accomplish their goals by having just one asset: physical beauty.

            So, this made me think about how women are portrayed in movies, which led me to find out that many times their presence is omitted. Or even worse: they are only shown in relation to the opposite sex.

            Actually there is a test named after Alison Bechdel, an American cartoonist who in 1985 had a character in her comic strip who mentioned the rules for a movie to be considered non-sexist.

 Extract of the 1985 comic strip which introduced the Bechdel Test Rules.

            Bechdel Test Rules:

            1) It has to have at least two named women in it.

            2) They must speak to each other.

            3) Their conversation must not be about a man.

            Well, it seems pretty simple. However, when you watch a movie, a series or read a book while bearing this in mind, the results are mind blowing. Many very famous films fail the test, such as:

The Original Star Wars Trilogy 

There are only three named female characters and they never speak to each other.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 

It has three women, but they never meet nor speak to each other in the ten hours it lasts.

The Social Network 

When the writer of this movie was consulted about how female characters were portrayed, he said that the women were prizes.

Finding Nemo 

Even though Dory is a strong female character, she only converses with males.

            And the list goes on and on, but even if a movie fails to pass the test it doesn't necessarily mean its writers are chauvinistic. The astonishing amount of films that lack female character development only demonstrates how women are underrepresented and just not taken into consideration at the time of telling a story.

            For more information on movies that pass or fail the Bechdel Test, please visit bechdeltest.com where you will find a complete list of films along with their classification.

            Now, I'd like you guys to think about your favorite movies and series. How is their female character development? Do they pass the test?