The Bechdel Test has a new name: the Bechdel-Wallace Test. Cartoonist Alison Bechdel popularized the test for assessing films on their portrayal of women. To pass, a film must contain a scene with two female characters talking to each about a subject other than men. (Few films pass.) However, while Bechdel popularized the test through a comic, its origins are with her friend Liz Wallace, and Bechdel wants to share the credit.
Bechdel Test Gets New Name
Ian MacAllen
Ian MacAllen is the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2022). His writing has appeared in Chicago Review of Books, Southern Review of Books, The Offing, 45th Parallel Magazine, Little Fiction, Vol 1. Brooklyn, and elsewhere. He tweets @IanMacAllen and is online at IanMacAllen.com.