You remember some time ago where I mentioned that I was working on something I'd hope would be a nice alternative to the Bechdel test?
Well, here it is. The Kent Test. A test that specifically gauges whether WOC representation in a piece of media is pathetic or strong.
A month or so ago, I mentioned I was working on a secret project (in addition to the Representation in Media guide) and I am happy to finally be unveiling it this! On #InternationalWomensDay no less. Because obviously we deserve 💁🏾
Some background: after the wonderful @EqualityforHER and @BlairImani recruited me to work on the guide, I started to think about what else I could contribute besides terminology and sources for people to learn more about representation in media.
Then I got to thinking: my biggest gripe when it comes to media and cultural criticism is that we don't have the adequate tools sometimes to describe how terrible WOC rep can get. Because most assume that if a woman of color is present in media, the work is already done.
That is obviously a lie. Putting a WOC face in a peace of media doesn't do diddly squat if said piece of media is hostile to her inclusion and the narrative goes out of its way to either exclude, marginalize, tokenize, or worse: fetishize her 💅🏾
And up until this point, we've only really had the Bechdel Test to describe some of the shortcomings of female representation in media and sorry, not sorry, but that test is inadequate when it comes to describing the unique challenges of WOC representation.
Frankly, it has always been inadequate and like most things on this planet, it was not built with women of color in mind 🤷🏾♀️
And rather than fight to be included or even referenced in a flawed test, I figured: why not make our own? 🤔
Which is of course how we got here lol
In addition to this, I really wanted to make this test a thing just based on the pretty rich & serious conversations I saw #onhere about #WonderWoman & the fact that I wanted to have something to add to the discussion whenever #BlackPanther & #AWrinkleInTime made their debuts.
And there you have it! This is obviously not the be all/end all for representation litmus tests but I hope it will serve as a nice start/guide for people who are serious about fixing/improving problematic WOC representation.
Go in peace and use it responsibly 😎
P.S: And yes I did name it after myself. And?
Cc @threadreaderapp, unroll this please.
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