The Bechdel Test, Part 3

Some thoughts and such about my results with the Bechdel Test.

The results weren't bad, but the point isn't really to go all rah-rah, look how great (or awful) I am. The real point is to double-check my own unconscious choices when creating plots and characters. Why should I do that? Well, to make better stories. If my default choice is male, then I'm failing to think hard enough about my characters. (Even more so if the default choice is white, straight, cis-gendered male.)

Just as important as gender choice is what roles those characters play in the story. Plenty of stories and novels include women, but then those women are treated as accessories to the men. Their lives, and their pupose in the story, revolves around the men. Why? Why can't the women have their own agendas? No reason, other than that default view again.

So, my goal, going forward, is to question myself and my choices in my writing. About sex. About roles. About all the elements that make up a character.

What about you? Have you checked your stories and novels? What if we all posted our results? What if someone, lots of someones, paid attention?