4.1 Exploring discrimination

While it isn’t specifically related to the world of work, Activity 4 provides an interesting insight into gender stereotypes across society.

Activity 4 The Bechdel Test

Timing: Allow about 5 minutes for this activity.

Watch this short film about the Bechdel test:

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Transcript: Video 10: The Bechdel Test, Explained

Narrator:

Women make up half of the population and an even higher percentage of moviegoers. So why can’t we catch a break on screen?

The truth is in the screenplay. In movies, the way in which screen time and dialogue are allocated matters. It indicates who has power and who doesn’t.

The Bechdel test is one way to evaluate the underlying power disparities between men and women in some of our favorite movies. Spoiler alert-- the women tend not to fare so well.

CHER HOROWITZ:

Ugh, as if!

REGINA GEORGE:

Now I guess she’s on crack.

Narrator:

Simple enough, right? Wrong. You’d be surprised how few films pass. In fact, some of the most influential movies of all time don’t. Some famous fails include The Godfather, the original Star Wars trilogy, The Shining, Toy Story 1 and 2, the entire Lord of the Rings series, Avatar, and The Avengers.

OPRAH WINFREY:

A new day is on the horizon!

Narrator:

Movies continue to slip through the cracks, even in the era of MeToo and Time’s Up. Moonlight, The Grand Budapest Hotel, La La Land, and Thor Ragnarok also failed the test, and their female characters in the process. In 2018, four of the 10 highest grossing movies of the year failed the test-- Solo, Deadpool 2, Venom, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Green Book, another fail, even won the Oscar for Best Picture. The Oscars have set a precedent out of honoring Bechdel fails, though. According to an analysis of Best Picture winners throughout history by bechdeltest.com and the BBC, more films passed in the 1930s than in the 2010s. Yikes.

The Bechdel test was inspired by the work of a cartoonist named Alison Bechdel. In 1985, a comic strip simply called "The Rule" was published in Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For series. The comic sees two women taking a trip to the movies. One of them explains a rule she uses to determine what movies she sees, outlining the same criteria that would later comprise the test. Unable to find a movie that fits the bill, the women go home.

It wasn’t until the early 2010s that the Bechdel test was adopted by mainstream critics. Since then, it’s heavily impacted modern cultural discourse around representation and film. In June 2018, the term was added to the Oxford Dictionary.

It’s even being utilised in emerging software programs to detect representation in media. It’s also a proven indicator of box office success. According to the Creative Artists Agency and the tech company shift7, all of the films that have passed the $1 billion mark since 2012 pass the Bechdel test.

The Bechdel test is not a definitive test of representation or even a definitive test of a good movie. What it is a speedometer for the rate of change, or lack thereof. The Bechdel test helps to hold screenwriters accountable so that someday female characters are written less like props and more like people.

End transcript: Video 10: The Bechdel Test, Explained

Video 10: The Bechdel Test, Explained

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Remember the three criteria required. To pass the Bechdel test, a movie must have:

• 2 named female characters…
• …who have a conversation…
• …about something other than a man.

Next time you watch a film – have a go at applying the rule and see if it passes.

Comment

Film and theatre are two places where gender stereotypes are often seen, so this can be a useful tool for raising awareness. However, it doesn’t always work, for example with films that have a central, female character who spends a lot of time alone, such as Gravity (Sandra Bullock).

As well as this test for films, a test for plays has been devised by the Sphynx Theatre. It asks questions such as ‘Is there a woman centre stage? Is she active rather than reactive? Is the character compelling and complex?’ If you are interested in exploring this test further, you can find out more here: Sphinx theatre resources [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]

Now watch this short video in which a variety of women share their experiences of sexism in the workplace.

Harrassment

From 26 October 2024, new protections came into force meaning that employers now have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and create a safe working environment (GOV.UK 2024). See the Further Reading section for useful EHRC guidance in the form of an 8-step guide for employers.

It is important to note that there are two types of harassment related to sex, ESP Solicitors (2024) defines them as follows:

• Sexual harassment involves unwanted conduct of a sexual nature. The conduct has the purpose or effect of either violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive work environment. Examples include sexual comments/jokes, suggestive behaviour, sexual gestures, intrusive questions about someone’s private sex life (or discussing their own), sending sexually explicit emails, photos or messages, etc.
• Sex-based harassment involves conduct related to someone’s sex that is unwelcome or offensive. It is not sexual in nature but instead relates to the person’s sex. Again, the conduct must have the purpose or effect of violating the person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. Examples might include humiliating jokes about baldness, as this disproportionately affects men, or derogatory comments about menopause.

At the time of writing, following the Supreme Court judgement about the meaning of the word ‘sex’ in the Equality Act – many of the organisations offering advice and support on the subject of sex discrimination are reviewing their online information.

At this early stage, the CIPD (CIPD, 2025) recommend the following actions:

1. Policy and procedures review and impact assessment
2. Staff and management training
3. Strengthen employee support systems
4. Internal communication and culture
5. Legal consultation.