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.
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.
