by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Of all the reasons why I’m likely to get “canceled” should I manage to sell these five novels, my absolute white hot rage against the dumb “half-joke” of the Bechdel Test is probably going to be up there. The reason why I hate the fucking Bechdel Test so much is it totally misses the point of doing anything creative.
If you’re so beholden to some arbitrary ideological requirement for your art, then I find any of your art suspect. You produce art because you want to make people’s lives better. For me, I write because I have to, not because I want to. And the idea of having to stand on one leg and pat my head because of a creative requirement first articulated in a comic of all things, is just a little too much.
I say this as someone who loves writing female characters and is very self-conscious about how I portray women. The representation in my art is organic and I try to do it as much as possible. But don’t tell me how to tell my story because of your Leftist — or Rightist — preconceived notions of what makes a good story.
My responsibility is to tell a great yarn. If, by telling that great yarn, it just so happens to pass the Bechdel Test, that’s great. I will be pleased. But don’t deduct points from my story if it doesn’t.
