3 December 2012

igenlode: The pirate sloop 'Horizon' from "Treasures of the Indies" (Horizon)
I was reading [livejournal.com profile] capriuni's post on a potential disability version of the Bechdel Test, and wondering how my own fiction would apply in that context.

It made me think of a story I roughed-out over ten years ago and recently rediscovered in its raw form. I'm not sure how this would fit the CapriUni Test: it certainly fails the Bechdel Test as there are only three named characters and only one of them is female. I think it fails because both the protagonists are 'disabled' in some way, and this is the cause of their problems...

The Worm )

It's not exactly a sexist story, in that the female partner is older, stronger and wiser than the male, and ultimately 'comes out top' when he transgresses (however little she likes it). But it undoubtedly fails the Bechtel test, in that the woman talks about very little but 'relationships' (and in fact defines herself by her reproductive role!) and certainly doesn't converse with any other female characters on any other subject.

I'm not sure how it falls on the CapriUni test. The 'monster' here is quite happy with her monstrousness, and in fact sacrifices the possibility of a 'human' relationship in order to perpetuate her monster role. On the other hand the plot definitely revolves around the problems caused by the characters' various 'disabilities', and in particular this disastrous intersection of them. Curing one or the other disability would definitely resolve the conflict!

Profile

igenlode: The pirate sloop 'Horizon' from "Treasures of the Indies" (Default)
Igenlode Wordsmith

October 2025

M T W T F S S
   1 2345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated 3 October 2025 12:23 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios