Bechdel Test Thread

Yesterday I watched 3 episodes of ~Merlin

2 passed - Some queen or other played by Lindsay Duncan, had a voncersation with Morgana about Camelot. In the other episode, Morgana had a conversation with a magical old hag about hwo to get souls back from the dead.

1 failed. Gwyn asked a magical creature who is a woman what her anme was and said her name was Gwyn but not sure if that constitutes a conversation

I watched " Another Year" That passes. Lots of conversations with Gerri and Ann. Gerri and the doctor (who is named but I've forgotten) about work etc.

Harry Potter last night (Order of the Phoenix)

Professor McGonagall had a face-off with the new evil pink teacher (she does have a name). So that's a pass.

But as far as I could see there were no conversations between any two female teenagers.

Right, recently read:
The Help - passed with multiple flying colours (there's only about two men in it)
Anna Karenina - passed. Very good convo between Anna and Kitty about children and how crap it is to be a woman
The Bluest Eye - passed, it's mostly about women
Still reading - Paradise - passing

TV Shows
How I Met - two of the main characters are female, and have lots of convos not about men
Arrested Development - the mother and sister occassionally speak to each other. Will have to pay more attention
Modern Family - lots of female characters, lots of talking about diff topics, sometimes about men
Seinfeld - Fail :( as there's mainly just Elaine, though in some episodes she talks to other women, not about men, so pass! (and also cos it's the best show ever).

I think Agatha Christie's Third Girl passes. Mrs Oliver goes off on a bit of sleuthing on her own and talks with some women about this and that.

Just read Ann Patchett State of Wonder and that passed.

Now starting Blod Sisters which despite the title is not vampireish (it's set in France around the time of the revolution) and named women have already had conversations that are not about men.

Exactly!

Well, the horse IS female

I've been reading the Clan of the Cave Bear books, nearly all of which pass (generally women discussing medicine or ways to make things or cooking). The second one doesn't unless you count her talking to a horse, but she does spend most of the book alone in a cave.

I found this interesting in light of this thread And depressing.

I think 'PanAm' passes - Maggie talking to Kate about Laura standing on her own two feet, Maggie defending Laura against the weight-dragon lady (who does have a real name!) etc.

I thought that the conversation being about a man meant a man in a romantic/sexual way - but does it mean, as Tianc suggests, if it's a chat about a male corpse or male crime suspect, it also doesn't count?!

I realise I (subconsciously) ONLY read books that pass this test.

I get bored with just the male perspective on things. You get so many male perspectives, on the radio, TV etc. .

So I think I can safely ok ALL:
Anita Brookner novels (not many men feature, really)
Ann Tyler novels (men and women very much equally hopeless, and interesting)
Elizabeth Jane Howard
Mary Wesley
Amy Tan
Barbara Trapido
Barbara Pym

I am really stuck with female novelists though...

One of the great things about Bridget Jones was the fab convo's with her friends (Shazza in autorant). Sadly, in the film this was minimised

This thread is very interesting. I think I'll start posting my reading/watching here

Recently I've read
Dracula, which passes, I think..? Lucy and Mina discuss men much of the time, but they also discuss Lucy's health, as do Mina and Lucy's mother.
The Hobbit fails spectacularly; I don't remember any female characters at all
Carpe Jugulum passes. I love witches.
Good Omens - I'm not sure. I think it fails. So many of the characters are male, and the female ones are surrounded by men.
Snuff - if it passes, it's because of some tiny conversation between Sibyl and a servant or something. Most of it is seen through the eyes of a male character, so if he's not present, it doesn't get reported.
The Amber Spyglass passes several times over.

Haven't seen any TV or films lately, so I don't have anything there

Applying it to books is interesting. As someone said, you'd think it'd be easier for a book to pass, and still so many fail...

Can a man be present at or involved in the conversation? This was a little unclear to me. If he can't, it would automatically rule out every book with a male main point of view

I think you have actulaly spotted a big option in the market, and maybe that is what made bridesmaids and Sex and the City so successful. All these women talking!...still, it is mainly about men though....

interesting thread!!!

Saw "knowing" on TV (don't ask me why i watched it) and it FAILS...

all female characters are there to support the male leads, and never interact without the men (not even the daughter and mother!!!)

The novel of One Day is passing.

So far our main female character has had at least three conversations with other women wrt work. Some are short but they're all important to the plot and to the character's development.

Tintin - definitely fails. Apart from a few female characters in the background, all are male. I don't think any female characters even speak, let alone to each other. My MIL wanted to see it as she'd been a fan of the books. I'd not read them so it was an okay yarn with the CGI and all. She thought it was okish, but not as good as the books.

Joyfully re-watching the 1987 BBC adaptation of Dorothy L Sayers' Gaudy Night. Not only passes with flying colours, but the women talk to each other as independent, intellectual beings ? not just as plot-fulfilling roles like pushy granny, mad catwoman neighbour, doting mother, efficient secretary.

Hmm, do the other two DLS adaptations in that series pass?

In Strong Poison, Miss Climpson has extended conversations with the female nurse (who has a name but I forget) about spiritualism.

From memory, Have His Carcase is less promising, because most female-female conversations are about the murdered man or the male chief suspect. There's an exchange between our heroine and a snotty receptionist, but someone else chucks Lord Peter Wimsey into that conversation.

Whip It, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, passes.

The male characters are very much secondary, as the main focus is Ellen Page's character joining a roller derby team, and her relationship with (female) best friend.

ecclesvet - good lord, the caps-iness of that blog is pretty scary! An interesting read through the capslock shouting thogh; I read posts ones and two but I'm still not over-convinced that some specifically female-oriented insults are even the most sexist thing about the game, and if bitch is overused then to me it came across as more a sign of some lazy dialogue writing than anything else.

MMMarmite - what series of Big Bang Theory are you on? I reckon earlier series when they pretty much had just Penny and some guests as female characters then they would have failed pretty hard, but now there are three female regulars they do seem to have at least the odd conversation that doesn't revolve around the guys.

Girls and women (with names) are talking to each other about singing and about hair dye and about cheerleading in the episode of Glee I'm watching.

The Princess Bride appears to be failing.

Persepolis passes with flying colors! It's an animated film (originally a graphic novel) about a girl growing up in Iran. Would recommend it.

I'm sadly realising that Big Bang Theory is failing miserably though. Damn it, I was enjoying that show.

Lesbian Vampire Killers passes with flying colours.