The Bechdel Test, Part 1

The Bechdel Test, from the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, was originally used for movies, and has these three simple rules:

1. The movie has to have at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something other than a man. (Not limited to romantic relationships, for example two sisters talking about their father doesn't pass)

(An optional variation says the two women must be named characters.)

Now, passing the Bechdel Test isn't a guarantee of quality, nor is the opposite true. However, it shows some interesting (read: depressing) results when applied to movies and fiction in general. I've heard some authors claim how *hard* it is to pass the Bechdel Test. My first reaction is that it can't be that hard, but I thought I'd check my own published work to see how it fares.

So. My bibliography page is here. I have 22 stories published. Of those, 12 pass. More than half, but not so great. In some cases, the stories are limited because the single POV character is male (Pig, Crane, Fox; Marsdog; A Handful of Pearls), but "Air and Angels" does pass even so, because the male protag witnesses a brief conversation between two sisters about their science experiment. "River of Souls" is from a male's POV, but in his previous life, he was female, and she has conversations with women. "Jump to Zion" passes only if you don't invoke the "named" part, so I'm not sure if I should count it or not.

The point is, however, that I could do more. Especially when I look at the stories again, I see that several could have passed without much trouble. Again, it's not so much that *every* story must pass, but that stories will be richer and deeper if they do.

In my next post, I'll post results for my novels (those under contract, even if they aren't yet published).