the Bechdel test, the Ellen Willis test, ALL THE TESTS: or, a handy guide to feminist critiques of narrative

jennirl:

(reference for when i am trying to explain these to people and they are looking at me like “huh”):

• the Bechdel test: does the story have a) more than one women, b) who talk to each other, c) about something other than a man.
• the Ellen Willis test: if you flip the genders, does the story still make sense?
• the Sexy Lamp test (courtesy of Kelly Sue DeConnick): can you replace your female character with a sexy lamp and still have the story work? if yes, YOU ARE A HACK.
• the Mako Mori test: there is a) at least one female character, b) who gets her own narrative arc, c) that is not about supporting a man’s story.
• the Tauriel test (which i made up in response to The Hobbit 2 [which passes] and Skyfall [which fails]): a) there is a woman, b) WHO IS GOOD AT HER JOB.

and in justification of my recent TV obsessions, i would like to note that Scandal, The Vampire Diaries, Buffy, and Nikita (ALL HAIL MAGGIE Q) pass all of these tests with flying colors.

UPDATE: i just discovered the Finkbeiner test and it is FANTASTIC.

FURTHER UPDATE: these were noted by oranges8hands and are EXCELLENT and add some much-needed intersectionality:

The Deggans Rule: a) At least two POC characters in the main cast, b) in a show that’s not about race.

The Racial Bechdel Test (I first saw it laid out by Alaya Dawn Johnson): a) it has two POC in it, b) who talk to each other, c) about something other than a white person

and then I offered an amendment to the Bechdel test: d) both women have to be alive at the end