You know how, when you get pregnant, you suddenly start noticing pregnant women and babies everywhere? That’s how I’m feeling with The Bechdel Test this week.
Even though it was created in 1985, I’d never heard about it until ten days ago, but now it seems to be, well… all over the media!
It’s not a perfect test, but it does make you think about how women are portrayed on-screen and in books. And it turns out the Swedish government are taking it to heart and considering a proposal that all films released in that country now carry a Bechdel rating.
Interesting.
Click Here to read an article on Sweden’s decision in this week’s Independent newspaper.
Diana Cranstoun 
I had to read the Swedish article just because I find this subject so fascinating. I think that a lot of the movies mentioned failed the test simply because they have so few roles that are filled by women. The only female I can think of in Star Wars is Princess Leia. How can she possibly have a meaningful conversation with another women if she’s the only one?
It certainly makes you think.
It does, doesn’t it? What I find depressing is that you look back to movies from the 30s and 40s and were lots of strong women roles and women interacting with each other. But in those days, there were way more female screenwriters, so maybe that was part of it.