Bechdel's Rule
There is a meme that has been propagating around the Internet, that has been dubbed “Bechdel’s Rule”, even though Alison Bechdel was only passing on her friend’s suggest. It says that a worthwhile story is one that has two women talking amongst each other for a significant conversation, about something other than a man.
This is a pretty easy rule to satisfy.
I propose a straight-guy corollary to Bechdel’s Rule. In my world, a story is also worthwhile if it has:
(a) a man and a woman of similar circumstances, who
(b) engage in an extended, plot-advancing conversation, and
(c) do not end up in bed together.
I’m just getting a little burned out on the number of men and women in the stories I read who get to talking and this (apparently, obviously) leads directly to romance. Men and women are just as capable of seeing each other as equals and (shockingly-enough) friends in the real world. Why shouldn’t this also show up in fiction?
Why shouldn’t this also show up in fiction?
Because I read fiction to escape from the realities of my life.