What are kids learning about women from the movies they watch?

Above is the original comic written by graphic novelist Alison Bechdel in 1985.  Since that time, the "Bechdel Test", as stated above has become more accepted.  The test is a measure of how much woman are represented in a particular film.  The rules are: 

1. The movie has to have at least two women in it. 

2. They have to talk to one another,

3. About something other than a man

Upon first glance, this seems like these criteria would be easy to fulfill.  And of course, they are.  However, the striking thing about the Bechdel test is how few major Hollywood films would meet its meager criteria in 2013.  Think about the last few movies that you have seen. Or better yet, have this in mind when you go to the theater next. Of the top 100 US films in 2011, women accounted for 33% of all characters and only 11% of the protagonists.

Why care? Well, we already care what sort of content that our children see when we head to the multiplex, right?  We think about nudity, sex, violence, drug use, and profanity.  The MPAA pretty much only cares about one word (hint: it starts with "f") and sex and nudity.  But the MPAA is enough of a sore spot to merit its own blog.

The Swedish cinemas have decided to add to their rating system.  They are going to add the Bechdel test.  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/swedish-cinemas-bechdel-test-films-gender-bias

Some may say that the test itself is flawed or is too blunt an instrument.  This is probably true, as a great movie like "Gravity" would fail it.  However, that movie is almost a one-woman show of action, drama, bravery, and invention starring Sandra Bullock as an accomplished scientist stuck in a battle to safe her life in space.  So, yes, there are exceptions.  Tell me another movie off the top of your head that would fail the test, but whose lead character is a woman.

The thing that the test reveals to me is that there are subtle messages over time in the content of the films that we (and our children) watch.  These messages move beyond the "offensive" content that the MPAA warns us about.  In fact, the cumulative effect of seeing men as protagonists and women as only sidekicks or love interests might just be a little more important to my kids development than hearing a certain four letter word.

At first, I was thinking of my daughter.  How will she see herself?  She already requests, when pretending with her big brother, to pretend to be a boy character.  I wonder why?  Is it because boys seem to have all the fun, star in the adventures, and are more interesting in the shows and movies she watches?  I hadn't considered it before.  She certainly has taken notice that there are no girls on the Saint Louis Cardinals. "Are girls not allowed to play baseball Dad?"   I have no idea what to do about that, yet.

However, might it be just as important for me to consider my sons?  Their views of the world and of women's role in it, are also shaped by the content of the films and shows they watch.  Will they view women as scientists, athletes, or action heroes? Will they think of women as equal protagonists in life or merely accessories to their own adventures?

I'm not sure how much movies are to blame for gender inequality, to be honest, but I am going to be applying the Bechdel test to my kids movie choices. Not that I'm forbidding movies that fail the test, but I am going to encourage more of them that pass it.  It couldn't hurt.

Now, off to see "Frozen,"  a movie about two sisters.  That's a good start.