i think this thing has officially gone viral
April 8th, 2011 | Uncategorized
The Bechdel Test gets a mention in this week’s New Yorker, in an article by Tad Friend about the actress Anna Faris. I’ve had the magazine sitting here all week, but hadn’t made it past “I Was Gandhi’s Boyfriend” by Paul Rudnick. I only found out about it when someone from the blog She Said, She Said emailed me a link to their recent post about the test.
14 Responses to “i think this thing has officially gone viral”
Alison, you did read down to where it says who Margaret Roach used to work for, didn’t you?
Hey. Thanks for the shout out. We’re huge fans of you, the test, and when good things go viral.
[Freed from spam-filter limbo. –Mentor]
I made a post about it on my blog… in portuguese 😉
cheers
http://valentinanaweb.blogspot.com/2011/04/mulheres-no-cinema-e-o-teste-bechdel.html
Yes, it seems to be everywhere all of a sudden. Odd how these things happen.
Love the graphic, Alison!
How wonderful. As Maggie said, when radical notions (like the fact that women are people) go viral, it’s all good.
I just hope that when all the erudite New Yorker readers see the phrase, they say Bechdel (“rhymes with rectal”) correctly! 😉
ready2agitate, thanks for the reminder! I tend to say the name with a raspy middle-sound, so it’s good to be reminded that I know better. Now I’ll ask, with clear and lovely consonants, “Do you happen to have those Bechdel comic books handy that I lent you?” instead of the harsher “I need my Bekhhdel khhomix back NOW (koff pfpt)!”
(I say “FolksVoggen” for the car too. Weird.)
There was also a post on the Bechdel Test and theater that popped up on the internet this week. Not sure if it’s been applied to theater before this.
http://fragmentssynapses.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-bechdel-test-and-plays/
I just came across it myself! Immortalized in the New Yorker! And one more way you’re entrenched in popular culture. Way to go!
ready2agitate #6 Thanks for reminding me that women are people, too! 🙂 Otherwise, all I’ve been hearing is the U.S. Supremem Court’s Citizens United ruling that established free speech for corporations (no, readers around the globe, I’m NOT joking). Btw, on last night’s Rachel Maddow Show, that nice, young Dr. Maddow accurately described the extreme conservative political situation in Kansas, but did not go far enough! She mentioned that we will soon have the most restrictive voter registration laws in the country, but did not mention that this is because of the Kansas secretary of state, Kurt Kobach, a lawyer who was also involved with the writing of Arizona’s new illegal immigration law. Kobach actually did NOT get all he wanted in the new voter registration law from the state legislature. Kobach wanted the right to charge and try voters himself. Instead, that sort of thing will remain in the hands of county attorneys and the state attorney general. The thinking is that Kobach is afraid that the recent wave of latino immigrants to Kansas may be brazen enough to try to vote someday. He wants new voters to be required to present proof of citizenship before they can register to vote – like a birth certificate. Ironically, the state of Kansas only issues “Certificates of Live Birth”, the exact same sort of document that Hawaii issued for President Obama when he was born there. I wonder if Donald Trump will have us all investigated…
You’re in everyone’s heads, touchin’ their minds!
Hey! I was wondering when that was gonna get posted here! Funny how the New Yorker article came out right after your post…but excellent that they attributed the co-origination of the idea to you AND your friend who you “stole” it from back in the day. It was her idea, but apparently illustrating it in your comic strip 125 years ago (as you say) is what made the idea stick – and then – tada! – famous!
I googled Bechdel Test and got 676,000 hits. Yup, its pretty much viral.
There’s even a definition of it at urban dictionary!
Yes, it is funny that its taken so long for it to go mainstream. Which just goes to show that you, Alison, and your DTWOF, are radical pioneers.
hi:) – i’ve been measuring movies by the BT ever since i read about it. it’s been depressing, since it colors every thing you see. however, it’s been really good for me, since i’ve also been using it to gauge stories i write (and the book i’m working on), because it really showed me that even i, who consider myself a total feminist (i’ve read sci-fi and fantasy for the last 30 years of my life, because it was where i found female characters i could be proud of), fell into the trap within four chapters. i actually stopped writing it for months (until yesterday), i was so disappointed in myself. i just want to thank you. and i’m spreading it. it’s a really important thing you’ve come up with. thank you.