Riot & Gender

I'm very interested in how the media has been portraying women in the context of the recent UK riots. I've seen some of the usual things, like hysteria centred on young women transgressing that doesn't hit young men in the same way, or hand-wringing "Why?"-type articles about "good girls gone bad".

However it would be great to get some submissions on specific stories people see in the press about women involved in the events (as perpetrators, victims, bystanders, officers of the law etc.) to start compiling some kind of mosaic of how gender interplays with them.

At the time of writing this, 97% of people charged with offences to do with the riots were male; so I'm sure there's a story about gender to be told here, but there's not enough information just yet to say what the story is, and I haven't seen any analysis along this line.

So comment below or use the submissions form to let us know of any telling/interesting media coverage of women and the riots.

The Bechdel Test: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Dir: David Yates)

Name of film
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Were there two or more named women in the film?
Yes

Did the women talk to each other?
Yes

... about something other than a man?
Yes

Was the director male or female?
Male

The Bechdel Test: The Remains of the Day (Dir: James Ivory)

Name of film
The Remains of the Day

Were there two or more named women in the film?
No

Did the women talk to each other?
No

... about something other than a man?
No

Was the director male or female?
Male

The Bechdel Test: Attack The Block (dir Joe Cornish)

Name of film

Attack the Block

Were there two or more named women in the film?

Yes

Did the women talk to each other?

No

... about something other than a man?

No

Was the director male or female?

Male

Bechdel Test - Bridesmaids

Went to see the fabulously funny Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids last night.

It definitely passed the Bechdel test and was a great portrayal of women's friendships and rivalries. This doesn't necessarily make this a feminist film, but was great to see women being funny and gross and insecure and sexual in a film, in their own right, as opposed to being accessories to the male plotline.

The actors were also quite diverse (not all thin, young and white) and were allowed space to have fully formed characters.

I loved it.

The Bechdel Test: Taxi Driver (dir Martin Scorsese)

Name of film Taxi Driver

Were there two or more named women in the film? Yes

Did the women talk to each other? No

... about something other than a man? No

Was the director male or female? Male

Comments Viewed at Watershed

The Bechdel Test: Mega Pirhana (dir Eric Forsberg)

Name of film

Mega Piranha

Were there two or more named women in the film?

No

Did the women talk to each other?

No

... about something other than a man?

No

Was the director male or female?

Male