Today, I want to talk about something that a lot of people are passionate about: the female presence in gaming. Now, I know a lot of you are going to feel rather strongly about this sort of thing, so let's get a few things out of the way here: there are subjective views, and there are objective truths. A subjective view is saying that the gaming industry is misogynistic and ignores the female demographic. An objective truth is that female representation in video games is not to the level of the variety in male representation (less games featuring women are made in several genres, not as many female programmers and directors as men, etc). This is a really big deal for gaming culture, and one that needs a civilized discussion, which I know ALL sides of the spectrum are capable of doing. But today, I am not here to discuss if gaming is misogynistic, or anything similar; really, I just want to talk about the Bechdel Test in gaming.
For those that do not know what the Bechdel Test is, allow me to explain. The Test was first proposed by Alison Bechdel, the author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, (That word is repeated solely because it is the title the author gave her work, no offence is meant), in a strip where one of her characters lays out the rules of the test, which are as follows:
1- The work needs to have two female characters
2- That have at least one conversation
3- About any topic other than a man.
There are, of course, many academics that expand upon these rules, and adapt them for other demographics, like racial minorities in film. A few common alterations to the existing Test include:
1- The two female characters must be named
2- The conversation must last at least one minute
3- The conversation topics can not include babies, romance, or beauty products.
Because video games are not like films at all, I think some new rules, and some rule alterations, must be made:
1- The work needs two named female characters, and at least one of them must be significant (no matter how much she has, she can be a minor character or a Player Character, but give her an impact on the plot)
2- That have a conversation that lasts at least ten lines between the two, (Because dialogue can be skipped sometimes, and not all games have voice work, I think this is a nice alternative)
3- About any topic other than a man or the Player Character, but an exception can be made if the male in question is the villain and the girls are discussing how much of a threat he is and they vow to defeat him.
4- That is not optional.
I think I need to expand on number four. See, a lot of dialogue in video games tends to be optional, especially in RPG's. My thinking is that since talking to Non Player Characters is seldom a necessity, that it is much too easy to simply say that the conversation between two female characters was between two NPC's, and that if you missed it it's your fault. I say no, that doesn't fly. That's a cop out; make the conversation between two female characters, and make it mandatory for the player to see it. Can't squeeze it in? That is the failing of the writer, the director, or both.
Why is this test important? After all, you don't need to pass the test in order to be considered feminist (certain films with strong feminist overtones, after all, fail the test. Example: Disney's Mulan) and you can also pass the test and still have the work be considered misogynistic. (Example: Tommy Wiseau's The Room passes the test, but its treatment of female characters is deplorable). The test, however, is not a measurement of how feminist the work is, but on how the women are represented. After all, here are two women, talking to each other, taking time to discuss something aside from a man. It shows that they are independent of males, that they have their own lives and interests.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: That test sounds super easy to pass! And you know what? It is! It's so easy to pass, it's a wonder how many films and works actually fail it! Examples of rather recent works that fail this test:
1- Toy Story
2- Pixar's Finding Nemo
3- Disney's Bolt
4- Disney's Meet the Robinsons
5- Spiderman (2002)
6- Batman Begins
7- The Dark Knight
8- The Dark Knight Rises
9- The Legend of Korra, season 2
10- Spongebob Squarepants
As I said before, the Test is by no means a measurement of how feminist a work is. Some works can be excused for not passing the test, after all. They can be works with simply no female characters present, like Up, or shows where the female characters simply have too much on their plate and are actively working on something, like Legend of Korra.
In gaming, there are several genres that can be excused from having the Test applied to them, and certain conditions where the Test can not be applied. For example, if the game is a platformer that's light on the story, the test should not be applied (examples: Super Mario Bros, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot). I also think the Fighting game genre should be excused, because this genre is very light on storyline as well, and because not many gamers play the games for the story anyway. (examples: Street Fighter, Primal Rage, Mortal Kombat). And of course, racing games, puzzle games, beat em ups, first person shooters, visual novels with a male lead told from the first person, dating sims, etc.
But there are some genres of games that have no excuse whatsoever. The genres that are heavy in storyline, like the RPG and otome visual novels (visual novels with a female lead), have no excuse to fail this test. An all male cast? You better have a good reason to not have at least two female characters in there, and "I'm not good at writing women" or "I couldn't figure out where to put a girl in the story" don't count. No conversations between the two female characters? That old excuse "I couldn't figure out what they could talk about" isn't gonna fly. The only thing the two girls talk about is guys? Unless the game is a romantic comedy...no, not even then, because it is super easy to have two girls talk about anything, ANYTHING, other than a guy!
In fact, allow me to present to you an example from what I believe is a conversation that passes the Bechdel Test in gaming. The following is a hypothetical RPG (meaning it only exists in my head), the character Flo is a playable character, and the character Rina is an NPC. The following happens in a castle's gates, and is the game's earliest quest.
Rina: Excuse me, miss? Might I trouble you for a minute?
Flo: Yes, what is it?
Rina: I'm afraid I've a problem. You see, my sister enjoys frog leg soup, and I promised her some for dinner tonight, but I'm afraid I can not leave my post until quite late into the evening. Could I ask you to please buy some frog legs and deliver them to her? I'll give you the money for it, of course.
Flo: Certainly!
Rina: Excellent! My sister and I live in the house down by the meadow! I can't thank you enough!
Eleven lines, between two named female characters, involving a topic that is not about a man. There, that was not hard at all. So, why do so many games that should easily accommodate such a thing, fail so absolutely horribly?
Here is a short list of games that fail the test, and a quick sentence or two to explain the reason they should not have:
1- Dark Cloud- had two named female player characters, and at least ten named female NPC's. No conversations between any of them.
2- Sonic Adventure 2- Two named female characters, one of them playable. Do not interact at all throughout the game. The game may be a platformer, but it is story heavy.
3- Exit Fate- Over thirty named female characters, not enough interaction between them. The one conversation that could qualify this game to pass is entirely optional.
4-Suikoden 1- The conversations between the female characters are too short, too far in between to pass it.
5- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception- Although there are female characters that are named, are independent and fully fledged, they don't have so much as one conversation with each other.
The Bechdel test is, as I've said before and I'll say it again, no more than a measure of the bare minimum of female interaction. It is really easy to pass, so easy in fact, that there are many academics that actually increase the bar to determine which works pass the test and which works don't. The fact that so many works fail to show 2 or more women, in conversation, about any topic other than a man, that raises eyebrows. It really casts a light into the way works of fiction are written, and it makes me ask a simple question: what's the deal?
And really, what IS the deal? Are writers such hacks that they are incapable of writing a simple, barely a minute long conversation between two women, about anything that isn't a man? There are innumerable topics to discuss besides men, and to name but a few: fashion, movies, automobiles, culture, feminist theory, Men's Rights activism, global human rights, Laura Harring's rack(don't judge), breast cancer, Twilight, My Little Pony, Harry Potter (the book series, not the character), television, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory (both show and scientific theory) etc. One minute, that's barely ten lines each. And know what? The minute isn't even necessary for some, it's just an addendum made by other theorists who believed that the original test was much too lenient! A ten second conversation could, technically, help you pass! And even by the most barest of minimum requirements, there are still many, many works that utterly fail the Test!
And what does this have to do with video games? Well, it has to do with the fact that this is part of a much bigger issue: female representation in gaming. As I have said before, it is a fact that women are under represented in gaming, especially when compared to men. Now, I believe this to be an issue that can be solved, and it can be solved logically and peacefully. If there are so many games that fail the Bechdel Test, then just make games that pass it! And it's not even an issue of a lack of topics, because there are tons! To name but a few topics for game conversations: combat (can double as a tutorial), quest assigning, villain's back story, the price of items, shopping, some jokes, character's appearance (debatable, however), and so forth.
However, as I've said before, the Bechdel Test is no measurement of how feminist friendly a game is. You can still have a game that is pro feminism yet fail the test. For example, Elena Fisher from Uncharted is, without question, a strong, female character and a fantastic role model for girls, and yet Uncharted doesn't pass the test. There are also games that don't pass the test because applying the test itself is tricky. For example, Pokemon Ruby allows you to play as a girl or a boy, but since the gender of the player character is irrelevant, dialogue doesn't change at all, not to mention the PC is silent anyway. A game doesn't need to pass the test to be considered pro feminist, positive towards women, or even good. You can have a good game that fails the test, and at the same time, you can have a bad game that passes (I'm looking at you, Hyperdimension Neptunia).
And yet, I can't help but go back to the notion that the fact that so many games DON'T pass the test. This is, at least for me, eyebrow raising, and it really helps me realize just how imbalanced gaming is between the sexes. This is a balance that needs to be fixed, and it will be. We just have to be patient, involved, and most of all, CIVIL.
For those that do not know what the Bechdel Test is, allow me to explain. The Test was first proposed by Alison Bechdel, the author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, (That word is repeated solely because it is the title the author gave her work, no offence is meant), in a strip where one of her characters lays out the rules of the test, which are as follows:
1- The work needs to have two female characters
2- That have at least one conversation
3- About any topic other than a man.
There are, of course, many academics that expand upon these rules, and adapt them for other demographics, like racial minorities in film. A few common alterations to the existing Test include:
1- The two female characters must be named
2- The conversation must last at least one minute
3- The conversation topics can not include babies, romance, or beauty products.
Because video games are not like films at all, I think some new rules, and some rule alterations, must be made:
1- The work needs two named female characters, and at least one of them must be significant (no matter how much she has, she can be a minor character or a Player Character, but give her an impact on the plot)
2- That have a conversation that lasts at least ten lines between the two, (Because dialogue can be skipped sometimes, and not all games have voice work, I think this is a nice alternative)
3- About any topic other than a man or the Player Character, but an exception can be made if the male in question is the villain and the girls are discussing how much of a threat he is and they vow to defeat him.
4- That is not optional.
I think I need to expand on number four. See, a lot of dialogue in video games tends to be optional, especially in RPG's. My thinking is that since talking to Non Player Characters is seldom a necessity, that it is much too easy to simply say that the conversation between two female characters was between two NPC's, and that if you missed it it's your fault. I say no, that doesn't fly. That's a cop out; make the conversation between two female characters, and make it mandatory for the player to see it. Can't squeeze it in? That is the failing of the writer, the director, or both.
Why is this test important? After all, you don't need to pass the test in order to be considered feminist (certain films with strong feminist overtones, after all, fail the test. Example: Disney's Mulan) and you can also pass the test and still have the work be considered misogynistic. (Example: Tommy Wiseau's The Room passes the test, but its treatment of female characters is deplorable). The test, however, is not a measurement of how feminist the work is, but on how the women are represented. After all, here are two women, talking to each other, taking time to discuss something aside from a man. It shows that they are independent of males, that they have their own lives and interests.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: That test sounds super easy to pass! And you know what? It is! It's so easy to pass, it's a wonder how many films and works actually fail it! Examples of rather recent works that fail this test:
1- Toy Story
2- Pixar's Finding Nemo
3- Disney's Bolt
4- Disney's Meet the Robinsons
5- Spiderman (2002)
6- Batman Begins
7- The Dark Knight
8- The Dark Knight Rises
9- The Legend of Korra, season 2
10- Spongebob Squarepants
As I said before, the Test is by no means a measurement of how feminist a work is. Some works can be excused for not passing the test, after all. They can be works with simply no female characters present, like Up, or shows where the female characters simply have too much on their plate and are actively working on something, like Legend of Korra.
In gaming, there are several genres that can be excused from having the Test applied to them, and certain conditions where the Test can not be applied. For example, if the game is a platformer that's light on the story, the test should not be applied (examples: Super Mario Bros, Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot). I also think the Fighting game genre should be excused, because this genre is very light on storyline as well, and because not many gamers play the games for the story anyway. (examples: Street Fighter, Primal Rage, Mortal Kombat). And of course, racing games, puzzle games, beat em ups, first person shooters, visual novels with a male lead told from the first person, dating sims, etc.
But there are some genres of games that have no excuse whatsoever. The genres that are heavy in storyline, like the RPG and otome visual novels (visual novels with a female lead), have no excuse to fail this test. An all male cast? You better have a good reason to not have at least two female characters in there, and "I'm not good at writing women" or "I couldn't figure out where to put a girl in the story" don't count. No conversations between the two female characters? That old excuse "I couldn't figure out what they could talk about" isn't gonna fly. The only thing the two girls talk about is guys? Unless the game is a romantic comedy...no, not even then, because it is super easy to have two girls talk about anything, ANYTHING, other than a guy!
In fact, allow me to present to you an example from what I believe is a conversation that passes the Bechdel Test in gaming. The following is a hypothetical RPG (meaning it only exists in my head), the character Flo is a playable character, and the character Rina is an NPC. The following happens in a castle's gates, and is the game's earliest quest.
Rina: Excuse me, miss? Might I trouble you for a minute?
Flo: Yes, what is it?
Rina: I'm afraid I've a problem. You see, my sister enjoys frog leg soup, and I promised her some for dinner tonight, but I'm afraid I can not leave my post until quite late into the evening. Could I ask you to please buy some frog legs and deliver them to her? I'll give you the money for it, of course.
Flo: Certainly!
Rina: Excellent! My sister and I live in the house down by the meadow! I can't thank you enough!
Eleven lines, between two named female characters, involving a topic that is not about a man. There, that was not hard at all. So, why do so many games that should easily accommodate such a thing, fail so absolutely horribly?
Here is a short list of games that fail the test, and a quick sentence or two to explain the reason they should not have:
1- Dark Cloud- had two named female player characters, and at least ten named female NPC's. No conversations between any of them.
2- Sonic Adventure 2- Two named female characters, one of them playable. Do not interact at all throughout the game. The game may be a platformer, but it is story heavy.
3- Exit Fate- Over thirty named female characters, not enough interaction between them. The one conversation that could qualify this game to pass is entirely optional.
4-Suikoden 1- The conversations between the female characters are too short, too far in between to pass it.
5- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception- Although there are female characters that are named, are independent and fully fledged, they don't have so much as one conversation with each other.
The Bechdel test is, as I've said before and I'll say it again, no more than a measure of the bare minimum of female interaction. It is really easy to pass, so easy in fact, that there are many academics that actually increase the bar to determine which works pass the test and which works don't. The fact that so many works fail to show 2 or more women, in conversation, about any topic other than a man, that raises eyebrows. It really casts a light into the way works of fiction are written, and it makes me ask a simple question: what's the deal?
And really, what IS the deal? Are writers such hacks that they are incapable of writing a simple, barely a minute long conversation between two women, about anything that isn't a man? There are innumerable topics to discuss besides men, and to name but a few: fashion, movies, automobiles, culture, feminist theory, Men's Rights activism, global human rights, Laura Harring's rack
And what does this have to do with video games? Well, it has to do with the fact that this is part of a much bigger issue: female representation in gaming. As I have said before, it is a fact that women are under represented in gaming, especially when compared to men. Now, I believe this to be an issue that can be solved, and it can be solved logically and peacefully. If there are so many games that fail the Bechdel Test, then just make games that pass it! And it's not even an issue of a lack of topics, because there are tons! To name but a few topics for game conversations: combat (can double as a tutorial), quest assigning, villain's back story, the price of items, shopping, some jokes, character's appearance (debatable, however), and so forth.
However, as I've said before, the Bechdel Test is no measurement of how feminist friendly a game is. You can still have a game that is pro feminism yet fail the test. For example, Elena Fisher from Uncharted is, without question, a strong, female character and a fantastic role model for girls, and yet Uncharted doesn't pass the test. There are also games that don't pass the test because applying the test itself is tricky. For example, Pokemon Ruby allows you to play as a girl or a boy, but since the gender of the player character is irrelevant, dialogue doesn't change at all, not to mention the PC is silent anyway. A game doesn't need to pass the test to be considered pro feminist, positive towards women, or even good. You can have a good game that fails the test, and at the same time, you can have a bad game that passes (I'm looking at you, Hyperdimension Neptunia).
And yet, I can't help but go back to the notion that the fact that so many games DON'T pass the test. This is, at least for me, eyebrow raising, and it really helps me realize just how imbalanced gaming is between the sexes. This is a balance that needs to be fixed, and it will be. We just have to be patient, involved, and most of all, CIVIL.
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