The Bechdel-Wallace Test: The Start to an Important Conversation and Where it Falls Short

The Bechdel-Wallace Test starts up a meaningful discussion about women and sexism in film that it cannot finish by itself. 

The test known as the Bechdel-Wallace test [more commonly known as the Bechdel test] is an unofficial test administered on films or other forms of fiction. Everyday people usually administer the test, and it sets three simple rules that a piece of media must satisfy to pass it:

1. The film or piece of media must have at least two women in it.

2. The women must talk to each other.

3. Their discussion must be about something other than a man.

   
   

But what exactly is the Bechdel-Wallace test for? Simply put, it’s an attempt to bring to light the poor treatment of women in film. It measures the representation of women appearing in films or television shows though it is often extended to books and other forms of narrative as well. 

The idea behind the test first appeared in a 1985 comic strip by Alison Bechdel. In the comic, two queer women discuss going to the movies. However, one brings up that she’ll only see a movie if it satisfies her three rules. These rules would become what we know today as the Bechdel-Wallace test. Although its creation is often attributed to Bechdel, she has stated that it was actually created by her friend, Liz Wallace. 

The Bechdel-Wallace test is simple. It sets clear rules that attempt to establish the importance of viewing women as more than just accessories to men, a way they are often treated in films. A film’s representation of women is judged by its women’s connections to one another, separate from the men around them. 

(Photo Reprinted from The Rule, by Alison Bechdel, 1985)

In Bechdel’s original comic, two queer women discuss the test that would later become the Bechdel-Wallace Test.

These criteria are essential to remember because there is no need for a reverse Bechdel-Wallace test. It would be exceedingly difficult to find a film that does not pass the alternative version of these rules – 1) a film containing two men, 2) who talk to each other, and 3) about something other than a woman. It calls out the striking inequality in how women are presented in film – as characters whose value relies on the male characters being present.

Issues with women’s representation in film do not end here. There is a glaring disparity between the number of women and men present in films. In an investigation of popular films in eleven different countries (the U.S., China, Japan, the U.K., Australia, India, France, Germany, South Korea, Russia, and Brazil) that evaluated the presence of women in film, it was found that a mere 31% of speaking roles are occupied by women (this percentage is 23% in action films), and only 23% of movies featured a woman as a protagonist. A few countries in this study set themselves apart: South Korea and China. Women occupy half of the leading roles in South Korea, and China featured the highest number of gender-balanced casts out of the countries examined.

What’s worse, the same study found that women’s representation tends to be heavily focused on their appearances and sexuality. Women in film are five times more likely to receive comments based on their appearances than men. In addition, they are twice as likely to be shown with some nudity or in especially sexually revealing clothing. The same study found that fictional women from ages 13-39 are equally sexualized as one another.

Another study from the Journal of Adolescent Health examined the trends of sexual and violent content (by gender) in top-grossing U.S. films, from 1950-2006. It found that though violence has steadily increased for both men and women in film, women are twice as likely to be involved in sex.

The Bechel-Wallace test fails to address any of these glaring issues with the way women are represented. This is the biggest problem with the test: it only measures the quantitative representation of women in film, not the qualitative representation. While it addresses the number of women present and their conversations, it fails to consider how these women are treated. A film passing the Bechdel-Wallace test does not mean that it doesn’t over-sexualize the women in it and it doesn’t mean that its characters aren’t sexist stereotypes.

(Photo reprinted from The Geena Davis Institute)

A study conducted by the Geena Davis Institute found that women have far more emphasis placed on their appearance than men and are highly sexualized in film.

So, with the Bechdel-Wallace test’s shortcomings considered, what are the better alternatives that can continue the conversation that the Bechdel-Wallace test started about women in film?

One test called the Mako Mori test was first proposed in 2013 to address some of the ways that the Bechdel test falls short. It was named after the character Mako Mori from the movie “Pacific Rim” (2013). Its creation reacted to the film not passing the Bechdel-Wallace test, despite having a developed and complex woman as its lead. The test stipulates that for a piece of media to pass:

1. It must include at least one woman.

2. They must have their own story arcs. 

3. The story arc shouldn’t exist to support a male character’s arc.

The Mako Mori does what the Bechdel test doesn’t: it measures the qualitative representation of women over the quantitative, something vitally important when discussing characters that often fall victim to sexist stereotypes and other issues.

There are other tests that aim to expose these issues, too. The Pierce Test, for example, was created by Kimberly Pierce – director of Boys Don’t Cry and other feature films – and lays out criteria that aren’t quite as clear cut as the Bechdel-Wallace Test but are incredibly important. It requires that in order for a piece of media to pass:

1. It must have a woman as a protagonist or antagonist with her own story, separate from a man’s. 

2. The character must have dimension and must have needs and desires that she actively pursues.

3. The audience must be able to understand and empathize with her actions and desires. 

   
   

However, even these tests leave many vital components of a test that is meant to measure a film’s representation of women out. They don’t address any kind of intersectionality, instead approaching sexism in film and other issues, such as racism, homophobia, etc. in film as separate issues that do not overlap.

Other tests try to rectify this lack of quality representation of non-white and queer characters. One test, known as the Waithe Test, intends to address how black women are often treated in film. It was created by Lena Waithe – an American actress, producer, and screenwriter – and requires a film to pass the following two criteria:

1. There must be a black woman present who is in a position of power.

2. She must be in a healthy relationship. 

Among the fifty top-grossing films in 2016, a mere 5 passed this simple test.

Similarly, the Vito Russo Test addresses how LGBTQ+ characters are treated in film. It was named after film historian and GLAAD co-founder Vito Russo. Like many other tests, it contains simple requirements that highlight how poor our representation of marginalized communities in media is. For a piece of media to pass this test:

1. At least one character must be identifiably bisexual, lesbian, gay, and/or transgender.

2. This character cannot be solely defined by their sexuality or gender identity.

3. This character must be integral to the plot, to the extent that if they were removed, it would have a significant effect on the story.

   
   

These tests are a continuation of the conversation that the Bechdel-Wallace test brought to the attention of the public eye. With the sheer amount of statistics that point to inaccurate and harmful portrayals of marginalized communities in media, this conversation needs to continue to see accurate, complex, and unprejudiced portrayals of characters. With enough action and continued discussion, we can bring changes that will result in the characters we want and need to see in our media and on screen.