Alison Bechdel's Personal Website
Early Life
-Alison Bechdel was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to Roman Catholic parents
-Her father, Bruce Bechde,l was a high school English teacher and funeral home director
-Born September 10, 1960 (52 years old)
-Musician brother named John
-Her family owned and operated a funeral home
-She attended Simon's Rock College and Oberlin College
-Graduated in 1981
-Came out as a lesbian at 19
Adult Life
-Moved to New York and applied to art schools but was rejected
-Worked office jobs in the publishing industry
-Began her comic "Dykes to Watch Out For" based off a single drawing that she sent to Womannews
-Gradually began multipanneled strips and other outlets picked up the strip as well
-The comic started off with constantly new characters and no consistent storyline, but over time it began to focus around a core group of lesbians
-In 1986 all her strips to date were published in a book together
-Developed the "Bechdel Test" which is essentially a method used to identify gender bias in fiction. A work is thought to 'pass the test' if it includes two female characters who talk to each other about something aside from a man
-In 1988 she wrote "Servants to the Cause" about the staff of a queer newspaper
-Written and drawn autobiographical strips and done illustrations for websites and magazines
-Full-time cartoonist in 1990
-Currently lives in Bolton, Vermont
-In 2004 married partner, Amy Rubin, in San Fransisco, but all same-sex marriage licenses at the time were voided by the California Supreme Court
-They separated in 2006
-In November 2006 she was invited to sit on the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary
-Fun Home published in 2006
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ReplyDeleteCheck out my biography collage of Alison and see if you can associate which picture goes with which significant part of her life :)
ReplyDeleteNo way! Bechdel has a “gender bias-o-meter” named after her?! That is pretty cool. She is clearly a leading voice in the promotion of equal rights (not only for women, but for those of unique sexual orientations as well).
ReplyDeleteI wanted to do a bit more research on this “Bechdel Test”, since it has piqued my curiosity so!!
I checked out the trusty old wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test) about the Bechdel Test, where I was pleasantly surprised with the plethora of information I received!
This page explains that there are not, in fact, many movies that pass the Bechdel Test- which both shocked and disappointed me! “A work passes the test if it features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.” I cannot believe that so few movies include these types of scenes. When I get together with my friends, I occasionally talk about a man, but our topics span a much wider range than merely the opposite sex! The fact that movies so poorly represent women should not come as such a shock, considering the number of stereotypes and misrepresentations that are so clearly present in the media. Yet, alas! I am stunned.
Want to learn about the Bechdel Test in a more engaging way? Check out this YouTube video about it! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s)
* Sorry, Blogspot was not accepting "http:" links tonight for some reason!