Information on the Bechdel Test. -How it started -How it works -Examples of Bechdel Test Failures -Example of Bechdel Test Failures

1. The Bechdel Test
The Bechdel test was created when Alison Bechdel published a rule in a comic she created
called strip ‘Dykes to watch out for’. She got inspiration for this comic when her friends
would make comments about the different kinds of Lesbians they would see when they
were out, ranging from masculine women (dykes and butches) to feminine women, those
with feminine trates. The way they dress, the way they act and they’re overall persona. What
Bechdel didn’t know was that she had created a new spectrum for critiques to judge women
in the film industry on. This became standard all over the world when people looked at films
(and recently, music videos), people began to look at gender and people began to have bias
ideologies in film. Over 50% of films (to the present day) have failed the Bechdel test. For a
film to pass the Bechdel test it has to pas three things. These three rules are, the film has to
have at least two women in it, the women have converse with each other and the
conversation must be about something other than a male figure.
Only now the Bechdel test has been applied to Music videos within society, female artists
have become known within the music industry and various music charts portray this. (Such as
the Billboardchart) . Nicki Minaj is a female artist who has a range of songs which pass the
Bechdel test. ‘’Anaconda’’ doesn’t, this song is in referral to a male figure and there isn’t a
conversation with a female in the music video. Whereas ‘’starships’’ by Minaj does.

2. I think that the three rules to pass the Bechdel test are not hard to meet, but to another
extent I feel as if in music videos (depending on the song, the artist, the genre) and many
other factors , makes it difficult to get in line with the three simples rules. For example, my
video does not meet the Bechdel test as I have one female character throughout my music
video (Sarah Mohan), therefore from the beginning of my music video it is clear that I have
failed the bechdel test.
I completed research and I found that the following music videos are among those which pas
the Bechdel test. They all include at least one female in the video, they involve a second
woman and these following music videos also carry lyrics where the artist is singing about
something besides a man.
Alicia Keys ‘Girl On Fire’ - This song makes women feel good, it makes woman look good. I
feel as if it allows women in society to feel as if they are doing well. In my opinion it is an all
rounded song for feminists. ‘Looks like a girl, but she's a flame, So bright, she can burn your
eyes, Better look the other way
You can try but you'll never forget her name
She's on top of the world, Hottest of the hottest girls say
Oh, we got our feet on the ground And we're burning it down
Oh, got our head in the clouds And we're not coming down’ and the chorus repeats its self
‘This girl is on fire, This girl is on fire’
Britney Spears, ‘Me against the music’ is another song that passes the Bechdel test. This song
was released in 2003, it passes the test, because it features Madonna ( a two women duet), in
this song they are not singing about men , which is quite unusual for both of these artists.
The song is about two girls working together to achieve something. It portrays (what seems)
a female friendship within the music industry.