Alison Bechdel (/ˈbɛkdəl/BEK-dəl;[1] born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir Fun Home, which was subsequently adapted as a musical that won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015.[2] In 2012, she released her second graphic memoir Are You My Mother? She was a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award.[3] She is also known for originating the Bechdel test.
The Bechdel test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. It asks whether a work features:
- At least two women
- who talk to each other
- about something other than a man.
- The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.
See the original comic here.
Links:
“Alison Bechdel.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Bechdel. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022.
Featured Image Credit: Chase Elliott Clark, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Dykes to Watch Out For was a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called “as important to new generations of lesbians as landmark novels like Rita Mae Brown‘s Rubyfruit Jungle (1973) and Lisa Alther‘s Kinflicks (1976) were to an earlier one”.[1]
“Dykes to Watch Out For.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dykes_to_Watch_Out_For. Accessed 12 Mar. 2022.
Sydney Lucas sings “Ring of Keys” from the musical Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.
Ring of Keys (from “Fun Home”) – 2014 Drama Desk Awards
Sydney Lucas sings “Ring of Keys” (from the Tesori/Kron musical FUN HOME, based on the graphic novel by Allison Bechdel) at the 2014 Drama Desk Awards.
The Secret to Superhuman Strength:
Alison Bechdel’s Superhuman Strength [Stuck in Vermont 638]
Alison Bechdel’s Superhuman Strength [Stuck in Vermont 638]Vermont cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s new graphic novel The Secret to Superhuman Strength documents …