Language doesn’t only name reality, but also creates it. It applies to movies and series which people watch a lot. Showing men and women in movies and series influences our perception of reality. Thanks to that, women are too often presented only as a decoration of the main male character. Even today, we do not know the name of the woman in a movie, we do not know where she works or what she is like. The only thing we know is whether or not her looks correspond to the beauty myth.

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The fact remains that in 2019, 34% of all talking characters were women (1% less than the year before) with men comprising 66%. However, in recent years, cinematography has significantly changed and is now starting to showcase the topics related to women lives. Streaming services that widened the availability of high-quality TV shows and movies are major contributors to this increase. 

 

One of the basic ways to understand a woman’s portrayal in a movie is to test it. 

 

‘The Bechdel Test’ was inspired by cartoonist Alison Bechdel‘s 1985 comic strip ‘The Rule’ which became a basic measure to see if women are fairly represented in a film. It’s is also referred to as the Bechdel-Wallace test since Alison credited the test for her friend Liz Wallace.
 

For a film to pass The Bechdel Test, the movie must simply have the following:

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1. It must have at least two female characters

2. They must both have names.

3. They must talk to each other about something other than a man

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So next time you are watching a movie, test it!