Whether it’s about purity, mothering, homeschooling, submission, or anti-feminism in general, women seem to be invited to speak about the second chapter in Titus or the 31st chapter of Proverbs more than anything else. Hannah Anderson likes to refer to this realm as the pink verses of Scripture. But the women that encounter Jesus do not seem to be very pink. Sure, these are important issues that we should spill plenty of ink and converse over, but there is more to a woman than women’s issues.

 
So every Thursday night my husband and I have a date. Whiskey is poured, we sit together in our famous “hot tub chair” and watch our favorite show, Parenthood. Last night Matt was busy grading papers and my brain was expired for the night. So I turned the TV on to the channel of our anticipated show and (not so) patiently snuggled in the chair by myself, waiting for him to finish.

Well, I learned something. There’s a sitcom that comes on before Parenthood (with a hilarious supporting actor who IS the show) that I ended up watching the second half of and I learned about the Bechdel Test. Apparently I am way behind, because lesbian feminist Allison Bechdel wrote a cartoon depicting this challenge in 1985. For a movie to pass “the test,” it has to feature two females in a conversation about something other than a man. That’s it. Anytime in the whole movie. Are all my women readers depressed now?! It’s like my whole life flashed before my eyes, and I was trying to find SOMEthing to make this test look stupid.

I mean, a bunch of feminists came up with this, right?!?

And don’t get me wrong. A movie absolutely can be good and still not pass the Bechdel test. It’s not so much the test of one movie, but an indicator of a stereotypical pattern of token women characters.

I like guys. I think they can be clever, insightful, and hilarious. I don’t have some sort of power-need to watch films that are anti-man and filled with independant women. But I began thinking this characterization of women is why I’ve preferred just following a couple shows on television over films lately.

More than that, it got me thinking about the evangelical parallel. How often do you see the token woman thrown in to discuss, wait for it….women’s issues. Whether it’s about purity, mothering, homeschooling, submission, or anti-feminism in general, women seem to be invited to speak about the second chapter in Titus or the 31st chapter of Proverbs more than anything else. Hannah Anderson likes to refer to this realm as the pink verses of Scripture. But the women that encounter Jesus do not seem to be very pink. Sure, these are important issues that we should spill plenty of ink and converse over, but there is more to a woman than women’s issues.

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