Bechdel test

Sometimes Bech·del-Wal·lace test

[bek-duhl test]

noun

1. a test of gender stereotyping and inequality in fiction, having a number of variations and used especially with movies, based on whether the work includes at least two fairly important female characters who talk to each other about something besides a man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Bechdel test¹

First recorded in 2005–10; named after U.S. cartoonist Alison Bechdel (born 1960); first introduced as a nameless concept in a 1985 comic strip in Bechdel's series Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008), later credited to Bechdel's friend Liz Wallace

Example Sentences

I propose that instead, we employ a version of the Bechdel Test asking whether two named, female characters in a movie ever discuss anything other than a man.

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"And it means we pass the Bechdel test," adds Barbé laughing.

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The book touches on the College of Charleston controversy surrounding Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, but it for sure fails the Bechdel Test.

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Good feminists or adept film buffs may be familiar with the Bechdel Test, a metric for gauging female representation in film.

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His question about the new Bechdel Test is whether it will be widely known enough to have a positive effect.

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