The Bechdel Test, first introduced by cartoonist Alison Bechdel as a part of her comic strip entitled Dykes to Watch Out For, is a test that gauges female representation in film. It revolves around three simple rules: one, that the piece of work has at least two named female characters; two, that they have a conversation with each other; and three, that said conversation is about something other than a man. This test, widely used within the feminist community and media critiques, is surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) “difficult” to pass, with many major blockbusters each year failing. Now while passing the Bechdel Test or not passing for that matter does not make a piece of work feminist friendly, it certainly speaks to the issue of equal representation. Although film remains its most popularly applied medium, it has expanded to other media forms as well, recently including video games and their narratives. This brings me to the question – is the Bechdel Test’s conditions sufficient to analyze female representation in video games?
I begin by searching for a few examples of games that would pass the original requirements of the Bechdel Test. Mirror’s Edge comes immediately to my mind, with a primary female protagonist in Faith and two additional female characters, Kate and Celeste. Faith talks to both characters about the sisters’ relationship, their past, and about running, amongst other conversations, so it definitely passes. A recent addition and an example of how passing the test does not equal a feminist friendly series, Remember Me also passes, as the protagonist Nilin discusses their Errorist plans with Olga and ethics and trauma with Scylla Cartier-Wells. The Mass Effect series has numerous female characters who, while they might discuss a potentially male Shepard with the female teammates, spend plenty of time discussing their different viewpoints and mission strategies. Final Fantasy XIII is another game that passes, as its primary female protagonists – Lightning, Vanille, Fang, and Serah – frequently communicate with each other regarding their focuses, the fate of themselves and their world, and their commitment to each other, among other topics. Coming up with examples that fail is, unfortunately, not a difficult task. A majority of the classic Nintendo series are guilty of it, including the Mario series franchise and the Legend of Zelda series as particular offenders and modern examples fail as well, like the Call of Duty series, the Darkness, and Infamous.
So now that we have a few examples of both the positive and negative, I believe it’s important to ask if the Bechdel Test can be appropriately applied to video games, where players take on the role of the protagonist character and where they literally have the opportunity to play as a female character. I would argue a mixture of both yes and no. All of the primary points of the Bechdel Test can be applied to video games nearly as easily as it can be applied to film, and in similar regards. However, it seems to me that the Bechdel Test comes off even more so as a very bar minimum for games than film. While movies offer an opportunity to follow a female protagonist, in games you control the protagonist(s)’s actions (albeit in a controlled and guided manner) and thus potentially a female one; certain scenes that might count to the test are skippable, avoidable, or optional (such as the technically DLC Catwoman arc of Batman: Arkham City and the conversation between Catwoman and Poison Ivy that makes the game pass the test); some games have very little to no conversation or dialogue at all, and so on. With that in mind, I propose outline for a Bechdel Test tailored to games:
1. Must have at least two named female characters that are meaningful to the story or gameplay – This condition is fairly self-explanatory and similar to the original first point. However, I add that said female characters must be actually relevant to the game, rather than a character introduced briefly. That said, background female character models or random female NPCs, while appreciated from a realism standpoint, should not count as they are often merely meaningless figures or tools used to progress forward in the game.
2. At least one of the aforementioned female characters must be a player character or a playable character or NPC in the player’s party – This rule continues to eliminate some of the leniency of the original Bechdel Test and takes into consideration the opportunity video games give for players to become the main character(s). This condition is to eliminate any approval of a game that includes female characters on the sidelines but doesn’t allow said characters to fully and truly be made powerful.
3. The female characters must interact with each other in a manner representative of the dialogue/conversational style of the game – This is a slightly modified version of the second rule, as it allows the rule to be adjusted depending on the style of the game. If characters of the game do not speak, if there is limited conversation in the game, or if the game has a non-speaking player character, this allows the creative flexibility and integrity of the game to be upheld. For instance, in Okami, Amaterasu is portrayed as a wolf, and therefore cannot speak to another female character. However, she does seem to hold conversations without speech, and if words were inputted for actions, it would pass for these interactions.
4. The characters conversation is about something other than a man – I have kept this rule the same as I believe with the glorification and centralization of male heroes in games, many female characters, and their conversations as well, are designed to revolve around said character.
This is just a rough outline of a Bechdel Test tailored to the specific conditions, variables, and issues that video games create. Likewise, while said test is a good surface measure of representative gender equality, it can only go so far in speaking for total and proper representation, and does little to speak on other issues of representation like racial or sexual preference diversity. Even still, I believe it’s important to attempt to better define these rules for video games in the hopes that they become expectations for the industry. With that in mind, what requirements would you include in a gaming-oriented Bechdel Test and what are some of the best and worst offenders in gaming using it or the original? Let us know!
