Female characters and the Bechdel test
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheBechdelTest
Women are people too. I know, shocking isn’t it? Thing is, Hollywood needs more prodding to make it seem that way. Women don’t just talk about men (or shopping). They talk about other stuff too. Like other women, themselves, food, travel (especially?), environment, work, money, dreams, fears, hopes, children, marriage, sexuality, sex, sexism (fem rant), crime, violence, emotions, sins, religion, politics (sometimes), technology, science, art, music, screen, books, games, any form of entertainment really… you name it, they do actually talk about it. But some works, regardless of how feminist or misogynist, whatever the genre or quality of the work, only have female characters talking to each other (if ever) about men. Some of them even branch out adventurously to such topics as shopping! (gasp!).
So for a male writer, who wants to adequately capture a scene with two or more women talking about stuff, and not about men, well the above could be a good checklist to aspire to filling out. Hell, it’s a good checklist for all characters to discuss at any point.
Children of Fire sort of passes the test – Jessica said to Sarah that she “always wanted a girlfriend to go shopping with” in a faux-lesbian moment (for comedy value). They’d talk about either common interests (trying to find them) or they’d bitch about being together, or about other women.
I have three women in the series, and three main males. These women are, or at least were, originally designed as the girlfriends of the main characters. Being a boy with no female friends for all of school, reminders that girls have minds of their own too were few and far between (yay internet). So how can I make sure my works include more female interaction?
The main point is that two or more women have to be present, talking, and that it’s about stuff other than men. Men may be present. Talking about men may be present in the work… but if that’s the only conversation, and it’s only about men, then it fails, as does having only one woman in the work (ie: The Chick). See also Token Romance Subplot, which could be removed without damage to the rest of the work, it’s that arbitrary and pointless.
And now here’s a poll.
What do women talk most about?
You know, that’s a hard one to answer…all of the above? It depends on who I’m talking to…if it is my colleague that happens to be an environmental planner, we’ll we talk about environmental stuff as it pertains to the energy industry. She’s also into TV, so she talks about her favorite shows too. If I’m talking to our Admin officer, she talks about finances and retirement planning because that’s the stage she’s at in life. Also, end-of-life planning because that’s what is going on in her life (parents dying and such). If I talk to my girlfriend who is a gun-toting ranger, we talk about the crazy people she arrests and have to deal with on a daily basis in both urban and rural parks. If I talk to my other girlfriend who is a stay at home mom with a home business, it is often about her business woes (late shipments, marketing problems) or her kids. If I talk to my sister who is a successful Realtor, then it is often about the housing market, and because she’s my sister – family stuff. Sooooo, all of the above? Maybe you should start following some blogs written by women and get some ideas. Also, think about your characters. Who are they? What do they do? They’ll probably be talking about things that they encounter in their lives. Just like you.
Here’s some more on gender in fiction:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial