In 1985, Alison Bechdel accidentally created a genius test for movies. This test has three criteria. The first is that a film must contain at least two female characters. The second component is that these women must talk to each other. Finally the conversation cannot be about a man. The Bechdel Test seems so simple there’s almost no point to it. But in Kelsey McKinney’s article for Vox she stated that in July of this year only 42 of 80 movies had passed all three pieces of the test.

Amazing.

It’s 2014 and less than 55% of movies can create female characters that converse with each other about something other than a man. This may surprise you but let’s be real when you actually think about a movie, does it pass? The movie The Other Woman features three female leads and yet it barely passes as almost all of the conversations revolve around their cheating boyfriend/husband.

Of course this test is not perfect as it does neglect progressive films for women. Films that do feature well-written female characters but lack the necessary conversations to pass. Pacific Rim features Mako Mori, a well-written woman led by her own narrative arc and isn’t dependent upon a man’s. 

The presence of women in film is important. We make up 51% of the population but leave no apparent, lasting mark on society through film. The ratio of men to women working on films is 5:1. Women are viewed as weak and less artistically capable than men for no reason whatsoever. Sofia Coppola and Lana Wachowski are some of the most prominent female filmmakers. But how many male directors would you list before you got to them? What films would overshadow Lost in Translation and The Matrix simply because they aren’t directed by men?

Film is extremely important and most importantly, based upon society. Movies exclude half the population and the misrepresentation of women is highly detrimental to the image of every woman.

This is so much more though than just seeing role models on a big screen. There is more to these statistics and examples than me personally wanting to see interesting female characters. Women are victims and objects to cater to the male gaze more often than they are real people. Little girls never get to see the female character saving the day they get to see the boy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 inspiring Peter Parker to get back in the swing of saving the day.

Film is a role model for everyone. Film is art, yes; but it’s not just pretty images. Kids are taught through everything around them. Like sponges kids soak up every single piece of information and formulate their own opinions, prejudices, and actions. So when adults put forth media that envisions a world without women, dead women, or naked women; they teach children that this is normal. Directors, actors, and writers produce content that doesn’t stray from the norm. They make pieces to earn money and through this reject women as people. The Bechdel test tells us that no one cares. That I cannot have a voice. I am told every day by movies that I am nothing but a character set aside for the development of a man’s narrative arc. I don’t have to be anything more than someone standing off to the side. I should not have to live to the standard set by male filmmakers who think that my only purpose is to further someone else’s life. I am not a side character in this world. But film teaches that the people I see myself in are not important if they aren’t the dude with 80 guns and a pretty lady.

I’m sick of hearing that women all around me don’t deserve a conversation which doesn’t revolve around a guy. The representation of women in the media that surrounds us is disgusting. I shouldn’t be taught from the age of five to be quiet and let men take over. I shouldn’t have to watch another movie with slaughtered cheerleaders. It’s 2014, not 1950. Women aren’t shrieking, half-naked models. We never were and we never will be.

How dare you even propose that I am nothing more than a girl who has nothing more to talk about than boys?