The lesbian origins of the test are important but as a fellow lesbian, it still astounds me that any women take issue with this. Because unless you are somehow the only woman around you, you are probably having conversations that pass the Bechdel Test all the time. Here are some of the ones I’ve had today:
-Talked to my mom this morning about what I’m wearing to my job interview tomorrow
-Gossiped with a female friend on Discord about something stupid that a different female-identified person said in another server
-Made plans with another female friend on Discord about meeting up in person this summer
-Talked to several female students about their final projects for my class
-Ordered Indian food from a female cashier at the student union
That’s an example of the types of basic, everyday female experiences that are left out of films that don’t pass the Bechdel Test. It’s why films with female protagonists where there are any other female characters of note tend to pass with flying colors, even if their stories are focused on heterosexual romance, because inevitably those two women are bound to discuss something else.
Every woman has some type of existence, some kinds of interests and concerns that aren’t about men. The Bechdel-Wallace Test is about if a film shows that or not. Doesn’t it bother you that so few films pass? Doesn’t it bother you that most of your life is not represented in movies?