Are you a sports girl excited for the NFL season? Are you tired of turning on the TV and hearing only men talk about football? Yes, we are too. That’s why we’re on a mission to make sports coverage more inclusive (and Fun) for everyone! We started Betches Sports because we are passionate about delivering the latest sports news with a funny and feminist flair. We’re just that cool, so if you’re a sports fan who cares about women’s rights and quality memes, you’re welcome.
Of course, we would like to see more female commentators this football season and will be conducting the official Betchdel Test (our version of the Bechdel Test) to measure female representation in sports media.
What is the Bechdel test?
The Bechdel Test, which measures the representation of women in films, comes from Alison Bechdel’s 1985 comic “Dykes to Watch Out For.” In the famous comic, the cartoonist and author depicted two queer women chatting about their criteria for deciding which films to watch. According to the comic, there are three simple rules: There must be two women in the film, they must talk to each other and they must talk about something other than a man. I realize that seems like a worryingly low bar for feminism, but… a shocking number of films fail that test.
Alison described the rules as “a little lesbian joke in an alternative feminist newspaper,” but over the decades the Bechdel test has become a common tool for assessing gender representation in the media. Although it’s primarily used for movies, the test can also be applied to books, TV shows, theater, and more. We use it for sports!
We present our version… The Betchdel test
Our version, the Betchdel test, measures the representation of women in sports media. Because when was the last time you saw two women at an NFL roundtable? Yes, I can’t think of any images either. Here’s how it works our Test work:
Rule No. 1: We need … at least two female experts per show.
Imagine Erin Andrews and Mina Limes in a room together. I know, almost impossible.
Rule #2: You have to talk to each other.
And not just a quick “hello”! These women actually need to have a conversation and a real, engaging dialogue.
Rule #3: …anywhere other than the sidelines.
Have you noticed that women are often reduced to the role of reporter on the sidelines? We look for opportunities where Rule 1 and Rule 2 apply not only on the field, but also in the studio.
Use our scorecard below to see if the sportscast you’re watching passes the Betchdel test, and follow Betches Sports on Instagram to stay up to date with our coverage all week long!
