Feeling Testy
Allison Bechdel is most widely known
For a comic strip episode setting the tone
For a sort of eponymous feminist test
To see how a matter of gender’s addressed.
It featured two women. One wanted to see
A new movie; the other was doubtful, as she
Would demand that two women converse on a thing
Besides one or more men. Now, is that hard to bring?
You might be surprised at how few works will meet
The criteria, even with words bent to cheat,
Like when “women” are broadened to girls under six
Or to animals talking in CGI pics.
It’s not just in cinema; video games
And most other media fall short on dames.
If you think this is trivial, might I point out
The reverse test, whose passing is rarely in doubt.
Some people find Allison’s test overhyped.
I admit it says nothing of stereotypes
And other key factors to see whether works
Were most likely made by male chauvinist jerks,
But I still like its use as a rule of, ah, thumb
(A phrase that’s not sexist; that origin’s rum).
For a comic strip episode setting the tone
For a sort of eponymous feminist test
To see how a matter of gender’s addressed.
It featured two women. One wanted to see
A new movie; the other was doubtful, as she
Would demand that two women converse on a thing
Besides one or more men. Now, is that hard to bring?
You might be surprised at how few works will meet
The criteria, even with words bent to cheat,
Like when “women” are broadened to girls under six
Or to animals talking in CGI pics.
It’s not just in cinema; video games
And most other media fall short on dames.
If you think this is trivial, might I point out
The reverse test, whose passing is rarely in doubt.
Some people find Allison’s test overhyped.
I admit it says nothing of stereotypes
And other key factors to see whether works
Were most likely made by male chauvinist jerks,
But I still like its use as a rule of, ah, thumb
(A phrase that’s not sexist; that origin’s rum).