In 1985 Alison Bechdel created "The Bechdel Test" in the comic Dykes to Watch Out For. In order for a movie to pass the test, it must meet these three points:
Let me make it clear that I am not claiming a movie with male leads is inherently sexist, I am only lamenting the fact that we still live in a world where 50% of an audience is female, but only 15% of the top films in 2013 put women in leading roles. This is only a 2% rise from 2002. Hold off on claims that the women are making a comeback in the mainstream- Movies like Gravity and Blue Jasmine are the exception, not the rule. It's easy to blame this problem on the fact that most directors and writers are male and therefore project a 'male gaze' onto their movies, but that just isn't true. Unfortunately, I think the problem begins with the audience. For years, the idea has persisted that women are not a money-making demographic. Let's take Generic Action Movie versus Generic Romance Flick as an example. Generic action movie attracts a much broader range of customers than Generic Romance Flick. Smaller kids (depending on the rating), teenagers, women, men going out with friends, men alone, and men with their significant others all fall under the umbrella of possible audience members. However if a woman wants to see Generic Romance Flick, she's expected to go with a girlfriend. This is all a generalization, but I don't think it's too far removed from the truth.
Another problem the audience generates in this issue is the fact that we have been conditioned not to recognize how expendable most female characters are. If a movie has women in it, it's associated with gender equality, when in reality the characters may completely lack substance and serve only as eye candy. That's not gender equality- it's false feminism. In 2013, 31.6% of women were shown to be dressed in a "sexy" way, compared to only 7% of men. Female characters between the ages of 13 and 20 were the most likely to be sexualized. Until a distinction can be made between women who are strong objects and strong women, this trend will persist.
Brit Marling (pictured above) is one of the many screenwriters fighting the trend. Another Earth, The East, and Sound of my Voice are works she created as a response to the frustrating shortage of female protagonists in Hollywood. She's not alone, however, and these are some of the many films that give women a chance in cinema (and pass the Bechdel test).
- It has to have at least two (named) women in it,
- Who talk to each other,
- About something other than a man.
Let me make it clear that I am not claiming a movie with male leads is inherently sexist, I am only lamenting the fact that we still live in a world where 50% of an audience is female, but only 15% of the top films in 2013 put women in leading roles. This is only a 2% rise from 2002. Hold off on claims that the women are making a comeback in the mainstream- Movies like Gravity and Blue Jasmine are the exception, not the rule. It's easy to blame this problem on the fact that most directors and writers are male and therefore project a 'male gaze' onto their movies, but that just isn't true. Unfortunately, I think the problem begins with the audience. For years, the idea has persisted that women are not a money-making demographic. Let's take Generic Action Movie versus Generic Romance Flick as an example. Generic action movie attracts a much broader range of customers than Generic Romance Flick. Smaller kids (depending on the rating), teenagers, women, men going out with friends, men alone, and men with their significant others all fall under the umbrella of possible audience members. However if a woman wants to see Generic Romance Flick, she's expected to go with a girlfriend. This is all a generalization, but I don't think it's too far removed from the truth.
Another problem the audience generates in this issue is the fact that we have been conditioned not to recognize how expendable most female characters are. If a movie has women in it, it's associated with gender equality, when in reality the characters may completely lack substance and serve only as eye candy. That's not gender equality- it's false feminism. In 2013, 31.6% of women were shown to be dressed in a "sexy" way, compared to only 7% of men. Female characters between the ages of 13 and 20 were the most likely to be sexualized. Until a distinction can be made between women who are strong objects and strong women, this trend will persist.
Brit Marling (pictured above) is one of the many screenwriters fighting the trend. Another Earth, The East, and Sound of my Voice are works she created as a response to the frustrating shortage of female protagonists in Hollywood. She's not alone, however, and these are some of the many films that give women a chance in cinema (and pass the Bechdel test).