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So, this is a very interesting idea, and one I would welcome here in the UK:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/swedish-cinemas-bechdel-test-films-gender-bias
I think it would be good to have this problem highlighted to cinema-goers, many of whom may never have even given the problem any thought. Female characters are notoriously bad in many films (and books, and on TV, and let's not even go *near* comic books right now...) and this is just one of the reasons why. True, this particular tool does not flag up ALL the problems female characters face, but it's interesting how many of them fail even this basic test.
Over the years I have developed a real reputation as a woman-hater in regards to the media, not because I hate women, but because I hate how they are portrayed. Very few films and books that fall into my favourite genres have female characters in them that I feel are real, normal people. Most are trophies, idiots, both, or that special kind of super-awesome-better-than-men-but-still-need-saving kind of heroines, who are possibly the most offensive of all. Some of the best characters I have come across, particularly in fantasy settings, have been notable not because they are rebelling against the limits of the worlds they live in, but because they work within them in a believable manner. Yes, it sucks that 99% of made-up worlds are patriarchies, but that doesn't mean that all the women living in such worlds have to be flat, lifeless sex toys for the male characters. A good example of this would be the many female characters in the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, who run the range of roles from rebellious child to warrior women, mother, Queen, and oppressed maiden, all the while maintaining their identities as real, functional human beings even when subjected to situations that in other books would rob them of any value. Sadly, many writers just can't pull that off, and some that try seem to swing the other way, turning women into super-human idols, capable of anything if it only proves that they are better than those evil, stupid men. >_>;
Sadly, I often find myself shying away from writing about female characters. I have constructed a number of worlds, and have made up more characters than I could possibly remember over the course of numerous role playing games, short stories, and half-finished novels. Most of my books focus on homosexuality and gender variance, even if it's quite well masked, and as a man myself I find it easier to explore such things from a male perspective. However, I have lived over half my life in the unwilling role of a woman, so it's not as if I don't have a fair amount of experience of how society represses women. It often worries me, therefore, when I find myself actively shying away from female protagonists.
I am currently writing a science fiction novel, set around the goings on of a small ship and its equally small crew. I have 2 female crew members, 4 male ones, and 1 who is neither. I'm ashamed to say that this is a huge step forwards for me- in one of my fantasy novels, I have a grand total of 0 female characters, and while the cast of that book is small, and it is set in a world that is highly patriarchal, it still niggles at the back of my mind that I have created a story where it is very unlikely that women would be visible to the reader. In mysuperhero story (still not finished, but I'm working on it!) I do have female superheroes, but I don't focus on them- they are not the leads. I don't know why I do it, because that is a world very much like our own, where it is perfectly possible for women to be visible without breaking any social taboos.
I think part of the problem I have stems from a morbid fear of creating female characters that are the very thing that I despise. I almost feel that it is better to avoid them than produce something that would be stereotyped- and hence, offensive. I can't stand books where a female lead is somehow superhumanly better than her male counterparts (for no good reason, mind you- like they just have better reasoning skills, better luck, better judgement or knowledge even when they wouldn't normally), nor can I stomach the reverse, where female leads are somehow pathetically useless but still seem to come out on top. I also really hate romance, which seems to be something that is practically expected in novels, and never seems to match up to my experiences of what it's actually like (that is to say, highly awkward and full of evasive missunderstandings in the early parts). If I must tackle such subjects, I find it easier to approach from the side of the fence that I know- as a man, dealing with other men.
Still, it bothers me. I don't want to be adding to the problem of sexism in the media, and if I ever manage to actually finish a book, I am in very real danger of doing just that.
Anyway, I apologise for the ramble. I'm just emptying my brain, really. Sometimes it helps to put things in writing and then look at them.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/swedish-cinemas-bechdel-test-films-gender-bias
I think it would be good to have this problem highlighted to cinema-goers, many of whom may never have even given the problem any thought. Female characters are notoriously bad in many films (and books, and on TV, and let's not even go *near* comic books right now...) and this is just one of the reasons why. True, this particular tool does not flag up ALL the problems female characters face, but it's interesting how many of them fail even this basic test.
Over the years I have developed a real reputation as a woman-hater in regards to the media, not because I hate women, but because I hate how they are portrayed. Very few films and books that fall into my favourite genres have female characters in them that I feel are real, normal people. Most are trophies, idiots, both, or that special kind of super-awesome-better-than-men-but-still-need-saving kind of heroines, who are possibly the most offensive of all. Some of the best characters I have come across, particularly in fantasy settings, have been notable not because they are rebelling against the limits of the worlds they live in, but because they work within them in a believable manner. Yes, it sucks that 99% of made-up worlds are patriarchies, but that doesn't mean that all the women living in such worlds have to be flat, lifeless sex toys for the male characters. A good example of this would be the many female characters in the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series, who run the range of roles from rebellious child to warrior women, mother, Queen, and oppressed maiden, all the while maintaining their identities as real, functional human beings even when subjected to situations that in other books would rob them of any value. Sadly, many writers just can't pull that off, and some that try seem to swing the other way, turning women into super-human idols, capable of anything if it only proves that they are better than those evil, stupid men. >_>;
Sadly, I often find myself shying away from writing about female characters. I have constructed a number of worlds, and have made up more characters than I could possibly remember over the course of numerous role playing games, short stories, and half-finished novels. Most of my books focus on homosexuality and gender variance, even if it's quite well masked, and as a man myself I find it easier to explore such things from a male perspective. However, I have lived over half my life in the unwilling role of a woman, so it's not as if I don't have a fair amount of experience of how society represses women. It often worries me, therefore, when I find myself actively shying away from female protagonists.
I am currently writing a science fiction novel, set around the goings on of a small ship and its equally small crew. I have 2 female crew members, 4 male ones, and 1 who is neither. I'm ashamed to say that this is a huge step forwards for me- in one of my fantasy novels, I have a grand total of 0 female characters, and while the cast of that book is small, and it is set in a world that is highly patriarchal, it still niggles at the back of my mind that I have created a story where it is very unlikely that women would be visible to the reader. In mysuperhero story (still not finished, but I'm working on it!) I do have female superheroes, but I don't focus on them- they are not the leads. I don't know why I do it, because that is a world very much like our own, where it is perfectly possible for women to be visible without breaking any social taboos.
I think part of the problem I have stems from a morbid fear of creating female characters that are the very thing that I despise. I almost feel that it is better to avoid them than produce something that would be stereotyped- and hence, offensive. I can't stand books where a female lead is somehow superhumanly better than her male counterparts (for no good reason, mind you- like they just have better reasoning skills, better luck, better judgement or knowledge even when they wouldn't normally), nor can I stomach the reverse, where female leads are somehow pathetically useless but still seem to come out on top. I also really hate romance, which seems to be something that is practically expected in novels, and never seems to match up to my experiences of what it's actually like (that is to say, highly awkward and full of evasive missunderstandings in the early parts). If I must tackle such subjects, I find it easier to approach from the side of the fence that I know- as a man, dealing with other men.
Still, it bothers me. I don't want to be adding to the problem of sexism in the media, and if I ever manage to actually finish a book, I am in very real danger of doing just that.
Anyway, I apologise for the ramble. I'm just emptying my brain, really. Sometimes it helps to put things in writing and then look at them.
