The Gender-Swap Test
A proposed alternative to the Bechdel and Mako Mori
It would be no surprise to anyone if I were to say females are a minority in films…and poorly represented in fiction in general. Hollywood, in particular, has been increasingly chewed out for it over the past few years about this problem. Male protagonists continue to dominate the market. The Bechdel and Mako Mori tests have arisen as a means of measuring female representation in media. Writers — especially newer, male writers — agonize over how to properly include women, if they are even allowed to, and whether putting women in violent situations with a man would come off as a misogynistic fantasy.
The Problem with Bechdel and Mako Mori
As a writer myself, I can empathize. I take great care to ensure half my characters are male, half are female, and then throw in a gender-neutral character who is assumed to be one of the former — and I still find myself failing the Bechdel and Mako Mori.
Why? These tests are supposed to be a painfully low bar. I should be able to pass them with ease, right?
No, not really. Because to do that one must first understand the nature of a story: If the protagonist is a man — even if the vast majority of characters are women — the vast majority of conversations will be about or involve him purely because he is the protagonist. If the antagonist is a man — even if the vast majority of characters are women — the vast majority of conversations may also be about or involve him purely because he is the antagonist. Introducing female characters as partners, subordinates, or the designated love interest doesn’t always work unless they are separated from the protagonist in a way that doesn’t involve kidnapping or reconnecting with their partner. Why? Because everything in a story must contribute to moving it forward.
Both the Bechdel and Mako Mori require a specific type of story structure to pass if one expects to get a quality story out of them. The vast majority of stories lack the required structure. Injecting female characters for the sake of it does not work. Hero’s journey is a particular violator. Historical fiction and war stories already shot themselves in the foot because women were rarely the decision makers and gender segregation has been a problem for a very, very long time. Any story where “woman must prove she is as good as a man” is a public announcement gender balance is going to be a problem. Anything with an established universe has to balance classic most-likely-male favorites and original characters without turning into an over compensating gagfest.
Furthermore, the Bechdel and Mako Mori don’t really address the concept most people think they’re trying to promote: feminism (alt. gender equality/equity). They’re not supposed to. They’re conversation starters for an industry wide trend. Which films pass them is interesting, why some do and others don’t is an important discussion to have, the fact most don’t is a real problem. But passing says little about the quality of the characters.
Furthermore, we also have to consider the aforementioned mentioned violent situations with a man. Men grow up being told to never hit or harm a woman — even if they are evil, because it is not honorable—and should violent situations arise, they should be chivalrous and sacrifice their life for the woman’s sake. Shame on he who breaks this ancient rule. Pitting a male protagonist against a female antagonist results in a rather complicated situation due to this, because it could cast the protagonist in a less heroic light. On the flip side, pitting a female protagonist against a male antagonist is a cheap method of making the antagonist all the more sinister because “men who hit women are evil” (In case you missed this controversy; “this dude is bad” is kind of the point of the poster), which can cast the story in a misogynistic light or impair the writer’s attempt to develop the antagonist beyond anything but “evil.”
So honestly,
What motive is there to pass these tests?
Writers care very much about their characters. How to respectfully write women is a topic that comes up in writing forms a lot because the anxiety to do it right and avoid the “sjw/feminist-backlash” for wanting to make a female character, say…a mother, is very real. But writers also want to write good stories they enjoy reading without having to meet some sort of quota.
The standard advice is “write people; tell the story you want to tell.” But suppose that’s not good enough.
What can a poor writer, trying to pump in as much gender equality and female empowerment, do when their story does not allow the type of interactions needed to pass them or the gender pairs and match ups do not contribute to passing them? Personally, I’m all on board having female protagonists face female or gender-neutral antagonists, especially if I can get an original story that isn’t another Snow White or Cinderella remake.
Until then, however…
Introducing: The Gender-Swap test
I propose an additional test. One which there is very, very, very little excuse for a film to fail, unless they are intentionally portraying a patriarchal society with female stereotypes, because you shouldn’t need to a story restructure to pass it.
1. There is at least one female character
2. With autonomy
3. Who would not be “gay” if cast as a man
If you don’t have a female character who passes this, pick a male character who does and change their pronoun. If you’re unsure you have a female character who passes, temporarily swap their pronoun to male and observe how that affects the story. Do you have to make changes to the character? Do you have to restructure the plot? Does the story suddenly read strange?
The problem this test strives to solve? It forces an (assumed male) writer to think about whether a character is female simply because they need a female character and recognize if they are trapped in the mind set of stereotyping or treating her like plot devices instead of a person. Perhaps female/other writers find themselves being squashed into this hole as well.
For example, many films have a designated male and female lead, and the female gets kidnapped because how else is she supposed to fall in love with him if he does not risk his life to rescue her? Many films have a male authority figures with a female subordinate (eg: secretary, arm candy), but at least they know kung-fu, so it totally counts as progress, right? And then there are female nurses reporting to male doctors, female flight attendants reporting to male pilots, and that never ending obsession with fashion and boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBIeK74KYU&t=2s
But let’s break this test down further.
1. There is at least one female character…
Simple enough. The character can be an adult, teenager, or child.
2. With autonomy…
Does the character have say in their actions, or do they report to a higher authority? Do they give orders, or do they receive orders? Do they decide where they go, or do they follow someone around? Are they actually a person, or are they a plot device you can replace with a sexy lamp?
It should be noted “with autonomy” does not mean “gains autonomy.” It does not mean “starts with autonomy, but loses it at some point.” Any and all autonomy should be present throughout the character’s screen time. A female character who starts off as a prisoner, a sheltered princess, or is otherwise ignorant of the world because they fell from an alien portal, fails this requirement. A female character who gets captured and waits around to be rescued because some other character has to have an epic boss battle fails this requirement.
Children and teenagers are tricky in the regard because they are technically subject to their parents authority. Likewise, women in the military can be argued to lack autonomy because the military is hierarchical by nature, and even generals may find themselves answering to royalty and presidents.
However, the opposite of autonomy isn’t authority. It’s doing what you’re told and expected to do. Side characters, for example, almost never have autonomy, because they’d need a personality beyond “plot device.”
Parents can grant their children certain levels of autonomy, which is a sign that the children are trusted to make their own decisions. Children can rebel against their parents. In stories which depict the military, autonomy can also be granted via rank and position. The catch is this autonomy must be shown. A female character may be ranked Major, but if all she does is follow orders, she does not have true-autonomy. She must be shown acting as a leader and making decisions reflective of that. Female characters can also start in towers or wind up trapped in one. They don’t wait around for rescue. They do everything they can to escape.
3. Who would not be “gay” if cast as a man
If you like your story with gay characters and representatives from across the rainbow, great. There is nothing wrong with an LGBT character. Gay stereotypes on the other hand are another problem Hollywood has, because it takes one dimensional feminine stereotypes, gives them to men, then parades the resulting tokenized mashup in case it’s too subtle and the audience misses the cues. Of course, there is also the simpler trope where female characters only exist as love interests and every female character ends up in a romantic relationship in the end.
The point is, interpret “gay” as you will.
The actual trick with this rule is you have to account for the character’s personality and role in the story. If swapping gender requires drastic changes to be made for the character to “work” because the core logic and motivations of the story break down, they don’t pass this test. If you only have minor changes, as in you have a couple who could easily be relabeled roommates or very good friends as part of the gender swap, then that can be sufficient to pass (Of course, that raises the question as to why have romantic implications in the first place, but romance sells, male protagonists often wind up in relationships too, and I’m aro/ace, so have someone else rant to you about that). Furthermore, some female characters could actually work very well as gay characters, such as Eponine in Les Miserables (passes Bechdel, fails Mako Mori).
But if all your female characters are cast as men, and you suddenly have the cast of the following video…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpgshV-Fudw
Or a yaoi/shounen-ai…
Or some sort of nude scene focusing on the finer details of that gorgeous figure and those supple breasts with perky nipples…
Then your all your female characters not only fail this part of the test, but you might struggle writing diverse females characters in general…
But that’s okay! Writing is a craft and striving to get better is simply part of it. If you find yourself struggling to deviate from feminine stereotypes, one way to get around it is to write a male character, then change the pronouns to be female once you’ve finished the story.
Now let’s see how the test lines up with random movies!
Bechdel Test: Fail
Maki Mori Test: Fail
Gender Swap Test: Pass
Bechdel: Pass
Mako Mori: Pass
Gender Swap: Pass
Bechdel: Pass
Mako Mori: Pass-ish, second half of the story
Gender Swap: Fail
Bechdel: Fail
Mako Mori: Pass
Gender Swap: Pass
Bechdel: Fail
Mako Mori: Fail
Gender Swap: Pass
Bechdel: Fail
Mako Mori: Fail
Gender Swap: Undetermined; Technically fails due to Lola having a boyfriend and a respective bedroom scene, but minimal changes would be needed to pass
In Conclusion
Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Does your story pass or fail the gender swap test? What are some steps do you think writers (and movie studios) can take to bring strong female characters and gender equality to the screen?
Leave your comments below and don’t forget to leave a clap!
Kai Austin is the author of two books and the founder of Wriget, an app for writers, creators, and storytellers of all kinds. You can follow his ventures on Facebook, or check out his works at his website: dotkai.com.
