On Yuletide and Bechdel
I thought about amending my Dear Author letter to include this, but as it's already longer than the actual minimum assignment length, I thought I'd make a new post. This is basically a remix of this post but with less coherence. But I thought I'd say it anyway, because Bechdel has come up this Yuletide with regards to the "Misses Clause" challenge, and god knows we can't rest until I have given the internet my opinion of things.
I don't really care about whether fic passes the Bechdel test. I don't consider a Bechdel pass to be the gold standard of feminist fiction, and it is not the standard by which I judge fiction. I would much, much rather have an introspective character piece about a female character, her agency, her power and her relationships with the men in her life than a fic with a random scene thrown in where two women discuss whatever simply to get the Bechdel pass. Yes, our culture is bad at writing women relating to women. But two women discussing what they had for dinner is not a triumph of feminism. I'd much rather read about a single complex, interesting, layered female character than something that is a technical pass but that fails to fully characterize and dig into the psychology of its women. What I'm saying is, it's more complex than simply having two women talk about anything that is not a man. A Bechdel pass for its own sake does not feminist fiction make.
Moreover, I think writing that deals with women in relation to men can be feminist fiction. I like fiction that is about interesting women with agency and the men who love them. I like portraits of compelling romantic relationships where the two partners are equals, who have complex feelings and experiences--and yes, I like a lot of het pairings. Writing relationships between men and women where both partners are equals who inhabit a complex relationship can be feminist! I would venture that without feminism, such a thing is not really possible because you need to be working from a place that sees both parties in a heterosexual relationship as having potentially equal power.
Not to mention the fact that the Bechdel pass, and the implicit stamp of feminist approval it carries, actually hinges on the (absence of) men. It doesn't matter if a woman is nuanced, complex and individuated--if a man is in the scene, or mentioned in the scene, it's an automatic fail. It's a test ultimately dominated by the presence or absence of men. Which...is sort of the opposite of feminism.
And like, can we watch what we're doing here wrt erasure? A fic that plays with gender or is about genderqueer/trans*/agender characters can easily fail the Bechdel, but you can't say that it's failing to engage with the work of feminism^ and social justice.
There are lots of ways to celebrate female characters; I would argue that the Bechdel test is not the primary or most useful way of expressing this because it's a checklist, not an intention or a philosophy. Write from intenion. Write from a love of the female characters. Write them flawed and complex and give them character arcs and meaningful stuff to do and deep relationships. Let your fiction live and die with them, suffer and grow and change with them. It's not a matter of pass/fail--it's a matter of sustained engagement with the text and with the role of women in narrative.
^ Yes, feminism has a history of failing trans* folk. I'm using it as a catchall for "stuff that looks critically at gender and gender roles" because I don't have a better word.
I don't really care about whether fic passes the Bechdel test. I don't consider a Bechdel pass to be the gold standard of feminist fiction, and it is not the standard by which I judge fiction. I would much, much rather have an introspective character piece about a female character, her agency, her power and her relationships with the men in her life than a fic with a random scene thrown in where two women discuss whatever simply to get the Bechdel pass. Yes, our culture is bad at writing women relating to women. But two women discussing what they had for dinner is not a triumph of feminism. I'd much rather read about a single complex, interesting, layered female character than something that is a technical pass but that fails to fully characterize and dig into the psychology of its women. What I'm saying is, it's more complex than simply having two women talk about anything that is not a man. A Bechdel pass for its own sake does not feminist fiction make.
Moreover, I think writing that deals with women in relation to men can be feminist fiction. I like fiction that is about interesting women with agency and the men who love them. I like portraits of compelling romantic relationships where the two partners are equals, who have complex feelings and experiences--and yes, I like a lot of het pairings. Writing relationships between men and women where both partners are equals who inhabit a complex relationship can be feminist! I would venture that without feminism, such a thing is not really possible because you need to be working from a place that sees both parties in a heterosexual relationship as having potentially equal power.
Not to mention the fact that the Bechdel pass, and the implicit stamp of feminist approval it carries, actually hinges on the (absence of) men. It doesn't matter if a woman is nuanced, complex and individuated--if a man is in the scene, or mentioned in the scene, it's an automatic fail. It's a test ultimately dominated by the presence or absence of men. Which...is sort of the opposite of feminism.
And like, can we watch what we're doing here wrt erasure? A fic that plays with gender or is about genderqueer/trans*/agender characters can easily fail the Bechdel, but you can't say that it's failing to engage with the work of feminism^ and social justice.
There are lots of ways to celebrate female characters; I would argue that the Bechdel test is not the primary or most useful way of expressing this because it's a checklist, not an intention or a philosophy. Write from intenion. Write from a love of the female characters. Write them flawed and complex and give them character arcs and meaningful stuff to do and deep relationships. Let your fiction live and die with them, suffer and grow and change with them. It's not a matter of pass/fail--it's a matter of sustained engagement with the text and with the role of women in narrative.
^ Yes, feminism has a history of failing trans* folk. I'm using it as a catchall for "stuff that looks critically at gender and gender roles" because I don't have a better word.