Be inspired by the women in history who made a name for themselves by reaching out to and supporting their fellow women.

1. The Bechdel Test
of
Ancient History

2. What is the Bechdel Test?
A litmus test unveiled in the web comic
“Dykes to Watch Out For” and named for
the creator of said strip. It has since
become a sociological tool to determine
how inclusive a movie is of women
characters.

3. The Rules:
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1. The work in question must contain two women who . . .
2. Speak to each other about . . .
3. Something other than a man.

4. Why the Test?
Recorded history tends to favor men.
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Like, a lot.

5. Why the Test?
And we’ve been
fortunate to have
examples of
women who have
achieved power
and notoriety
throughout history.
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6. Why the Test?
But have you noticed how many of
those women are famous for who
they married or what sons they
bore?

7. Exceptional Women
History is rife with women who fought like men,
from the lowliest foot soldier, to the queen
commanding the army. But those are stories of
solitary, exceptional women participating in the
world of men.
Right?
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8. Why the Test?
If there were any women in ancient history who
pass the Bechdel Test, would we even know
about it?
We may not know what exact conversations or
relationships took place, but we can look for
women who reached out to other women.
Let’s do this . . .

9. The Original Vietnam Vets
In the first century AD China was near the
beginning of its thousand year occupation of
Vietnam.
Specifically, it was 247 years into the occupation
and none had tried to overthrow it.

10. Enter the Trưng Sisters
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Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị were born into a
military family and learned martial
arts, warfare, and strategy from an early age.

11. You and Whose Army?
In 39 AD, these sisters were able to kick the
Chinese out of their village.
The two sisters working together, built an
army of mostly women.
Kind of gives a new meaning to “fighting like
sisters.”

12. Were They Any Good?
Though ultimately defeated, the Trưng
sisters didn’t go down without first:
• Taking 65 Chinese citadels.
• Liberating the kingdom.
• Keeping the Chinese out for two years.

13. Today
These ladies are
symbols of Vietnam’s
independence.
They’ve been honored
with statues, parades,
a national holiday,
and in the names of
streets, schools, and
a city district.
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14. Queenly Power
In the 5th century AD,
the Roman Empire
straddled the world
and Justinian I sat
atop it with his wife,
Theodora.
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15. If I Ruled the World
In one of the most egalitarian
marriage/rulerships recorded, Theodora
made many government decisions.
Many of her decisions made other women’s
lives better.

16. Like How?
Theodora
• Closed brothels and prohibited forced prostitution
• Gave mothers guardianship of their children
• Gave women property and divorce rights
• Instituted a death penalty for rape
• Forbade the murder of a woman who committed
adultery

17. Today
You may know her better as Saint Theodora and as a
pioneer for women’s rights.
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18. Ancient Activism
In 42 BC the leaders of Rome needed tax
money for a civil war and they knew where
to get it: from 1,400 women of the Roman
aristocracy.

19. These women, who had no
representation in the government and
no input or control, were nonplussed.
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20. Enter the Orator
Hortensia, as one of the wealthy elite, was literate
and well-versed in the art of rhetoric. The
women chose her to register their complaint with
the senate.
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21. A Snippet of Her Speech:
"You have already deprived us of our fathers, our sons, our
husbands, and our brothers, whom you accused of
having wronged you; if you take away our property also,
you reduce us to a condition unbecoming our birth, our
manners, our sex. Why should we pay taxes when we
have no part in the honors, the commands, the state-
craft, for which you contend against each other with such
harmful results? 'Because this is a time of war,' do you
say? When have there not been wars, and when have
taxes ever been imposed on women, who are exempted
by their sex among all mankind?

22. Did It Work?
The men reacted about how you’d expect:
they tried to dismiss the uppity
women, threatening to have them
removed.
The crowd outside didn’t like that.
The tribunal backpedaled, promising to have
a decision in 24 hours.

23. The Result
A qualified success, the tribunal agreed to
tax only 400 women, along with men.
Hortensia was praised as having the spirit of
her late father, a well-known orator in his
time, speaking through her, though sadly
he hadn’t any male heirs.

24. Today
Her father . . . who? Old
Hortalus isn’t nearly as
well-remembered as his
smooth talking
daughter, who became
the first woman in
Rome to directly
address a political
complaint to its rulers.
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25. Word Association Time
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you
hear the words “Isle of Lesbos?”
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26. You Said “Sappho” Right?
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27. Platonic Love
Born around 630 BCE on the Isle of Lesbos,
Sappho was famous for her lyrical poetry; Plato
even called her the tenth Muse.
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No doubt, she’d be cool with that.

28. What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Sadly, most of her works have been lost. But
we know it was pretty fiery stuff,
demonstrating passion for people of both
genders. Whether these encounters were
autobiographical, we may never know,
though she was known to slip some self-
references into her work.

29. A Sample:
What in my mad heart was my greatest desire,
Who was it now that must feel my allurements,
Who was the fair one that must be persuaded,
Who wronged thee Sappho?
For if now she flees, quickly she shall follow
And if she spurns gifts, soon shall she offer them
Yea, if she knows not love, soon shall she feel it
Even reluctant.

30. Today
It’s impossible to know
Sappho’s sexual
orientation from her
poetry, but Victorian
sensibilities pegged
her as homosexual,
from which we’ve
gained the terms
lesbian and Sapphic
love.
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31. Today and Tomorrow
Thanks to modern technology and progressive
values, women today have greater influence in
the world than at any other time in history. But
there have always been women in history who
relied on and stood up for one another.
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32. Why It Matters
“I do not long to be the Exceptional Woman. When
I find myself in a space in which I am the only
woman, I do not feel satisfied, nor do I feel
insecure: I feel contemptuous that there aren't
more women there. I do not want to compete
with other women in a way that suggests there is
only room for one of us. I want to lift up other
women, and be lifted up by them, and blaze
trails in the hopes that many more will follow
behind. “ — Melissa McEwan

33. CREDITS
Soundtrack: Help I’m Alive by Metric
TV Tropes on The Bechdel Test
On the Trưng Sisters
The Empress Theodora
PDF on Hortensia
The Poems of Sappho
The inspiration for this project was the final quote by Melissa McEwan of
Shakesville.
Check the links for the images throughout this presentation for further
information.