The Bechdel Test

[rowyn]

I was just thinking about this rule -- that a work should '(1) have at least two women in it, (2) who talk to each other, (3) about something besides a man' -- and it just struck me that if you invert this rule to "have two men in it who talk to each other about something besides a woman", I am not sure if any of Jane Austen's books would pass.

Huh.

Comments

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

What I find interesting about The Bechdel Test is that it's not an indicator of quality-- plenty of great literature fails (or in the case of Austen, fails the inverse). In a way, it's got a built in control-- whether the item of literature is or isn't any good doesn't alter what the BT tells you about the social phenomena it's designed to point out.

It's a brilliantly-conceived idea!

-The Gneech

[rowyn]

whether the item of literature is or isn't any good doesn't alter what the BT tells you about the social phenomena it's designed to point out.

Oh yes, absolutely. :D