Using the Bechdel Test and Mako Mori Tests we can determine the amount of representation of women in films. The Bechdel Test uses three simple requirements, 1) are there two women in it that have names? 2) do they talk to each other, and 3) do they talk about something other than a man? The Mako Mori test goes in a little deeper asking a) is there at least one female character; b) who gets her own narrative arc; c) that is not about supporting a man’s story? You look at these two tests and think that they’re simple enough, any movie would pass. But that is not the case. These tests exist because there are people that believe women are everywhere in film, have great stories being told about them, and that women are represented. These tests were created and exist to prove those people wrong, to show them that there is a problem with how women are represented in films.

One movie that I realized does not pass the Bechdel or Mako Mori tests is Now You See Me 2. Now You See Me 2 follows the story of four illusionists known as the Four Horsemen. After fleeing from a stage show, the Horsemen find themselves in more trouble in Macau, China. A deceitful tech genius Walter Mabry forces the skilled magicians to steal a powerful chip that can control all of the world's computers. Meanwhile, the vengeful FBI agent Dylan Rhodes hatches his own plot against Thaddeus Bradley, the man he blames for the death of his father. This movie does meet the Bechdel or Mako Mori tests because out of all of the main characters, only one is a woman. In this movie there are three women that have roles with lines, but none of them ever have a conversation with one another. Therefore it only meets ⅓ of the requirements for the Bechdel test. As for the Mako Mori test, there is at least one female character, but none of them have their own narrative arc that doesn’t support a mans story. This movie only has ⅓ of the requirements for the Mako Mori test. As a result, this movie passes neither tests.

As for my test that I have created, the following are the requirements:

1. There is at least one woman-

2. That is not white-

3. That is not straight-

4. That talks to another woman-

5. About something other than a man.

This movie follows three women that come from very different situations and lives. After breaking up with her girlfriend, a nightclub singer, Jane, answers a personal ad from Robin, a real estate agent with AIDS, seeking a cross-country travel partner. On their way from New York City to Los Angeles, the two stop by Pittsburgh to pick up Jane’s friend Holly, who is trying to escape an abusive relationship. With three wildly distinct personalities, the women must overcome their differences to help one another in times of need. This movie passes my test because it has more than one woman, a woman of color, a woman that is not straight, and they all talk to each other about something other than a man. They talk about their lives and the struggles they face within their lives. I believe it is important for any film to meet this criteria because there is way too little representation in movies with women of color, women that are gay, and just women that have stories about them.

Oh no. Oh shit. Shit. Holy crap what is he doing here? He’s supposed to have marching band today. Ahhh. NO. You know what it’s fine, I’m fine, I’m sure he won’t notice me. Oh wait of course he’ll freaking notice me. Why? Cause I’m the one gonna be ringing up whatever he buys. Okay it’s okay, I’ll be fine.

I should say something to him. Yeah it's not like he doesn't know who I am. Let me just… let me just organize this candy first. -organizes candy at cashier-

Oh he likes root beer. Wow… lots of root beer. He's taking his time. He seems like one of those customers that spends ten minutes picking out what they want to buy. We don't have a huge selection here, not being a chain and all, so it'll be no time before he comes up and has to pay.

Let's do this. When he comes up, I say hello, he says hello…. what happens after that? Is it weird to tell someone that you're madly crushing on them, and have been for a year and a half, in a candy store?  -jumps from ringing of store bell- My god we should really get a less jumpy bell.

Ah Matthew he's so great. I've known him since third grade when we arrived in Ms. Perkins class and our moms started to chat it up, moms being moms. His family would come over to my house every Friday and our moms would drink wine out of huge glasses, gossiping about the neighborhood while our dads would go down to the garage and work (obsess) over the 1967 blue mustang my dad had in our garage. While we usually just ending up watching whatever is on TV that night, and then we gather up for a ‘family and friends’ game night. Oh god, did I really just say that? Shows how exciting life is here in New Jersey suburbia.

Why tell him now? Well! Maybe because today in school I overheard Becky and Jessica discussing how if Becky asked Matthew out then it would increase her social status. And I quote, “Have you seen him? He’s little boy no more.” First of all, we’re in tenth grade, not running for congress, so why do you need a goddamn social status? Second of all, he is more than just good looking, although he did have a really nice glo-up. Not that I noticed! Oh whom I kidding he went from Screech to Slater in one summer between ninth and tenth.

But he’s more than just a face. He’s the boy that carried me from the local pool back to my house when I banged my head against the concrete in fifth grade. He’s the boy that doesn’t speak mean of anyone, no matter how vile they are. He cares about his mom, his friends, and the happiness of others. He’s the person that geeks out over the new stars wars movies and Harry Potter. He loves photography and the outdoors… and dresses not as if he just came to school in his pajamas! He’s amazing, and his smile sends me on a whirlwind of butterflies in my stomach.

Oh, looks like now he’s in the chip section. Hot cheetos, respectable choice. He won’t be long. He’ll probably be here soon.

But a guy like him would never look twice at a girl like me, even if we have been friends for years. I’m not pretty like Becky and Jessica. They flirt and flaunt, and then there’s me. Me who doesn’t know how to flirt. Doesn’t have much, or anything to flaunt. A boy says hi to me and I try to speak, and then words don’t always come out! Oh god here he comes. Hair, teeth clean, boom okay.

Hey. I’m good, how bout you? Good. Is this all? Okay. Anything else I can help you with? Okay. That’ll be 7.92. Ten dollars, here’s your change- 2.08. Have a nice day…

Matt! Would you want to maybe, perhaps, hang out on Friday? Ditch annual family game night and um, go to the carnival downtown instead….?

“Mayah!” my mom scream-whispered.

“What?” I replied. I then sat back and sighed.

“You didn’t shave your armpits in the shower,” she hissed at me.

Somehow, I knew this argument was coming.

“Yeah I know. I didn’t want to,” I replied.  

“Mayah, we’ve talked about this. There are just some things you do as a lady. Shaving your arms is one of those things. People see you out without your underarms shaved and they judge you. Just… please do it next time you shower,”

To her, that was end of discussion. But I wasn’t accepting that.

“No mom. If I, me, personally, want to shave my armpits, I will. And mom what even is the definition of ladylike? That seriously comes from a time where society told women how to dress. So you’re doing that. Congratulations,” I said, clearly embarrassing her with my tone and frustration.

I could see her eyes become irritated, like this was not the argument she wanted to be having, because she didn't think it needed to happen. But I wasn’t giving up on what she thought, so I pressed her, just not at that moment. She let it go, rolling her eyes at me in the process.

We finished the manicure, and left to go home. Neither of us continued the argument, so it was dropped.

This conversation is always in the back of my mind when talking about my body hair with her. Since then we have had the same dispute over and over, both of us always saying the same thing as before. I don’t see her side, and she doesn’t see mine.

I remember the first time I had ever shaved my underarms. I wasn’t even the one to do it. My mom said I had to start, and that it was something I had to learn to begin to do as a growing young lady. I was terrified she would take the razor and cut me by accident, which would lead to me excessively bleeding. (As you can see I was a very overdramatic scared 12 year old.) We were in our bathroom, and she had me raise my arm, put some water on it, and stay still. To this day I still hate shaving my armpits. No matter how much shaving cream, soap, or water, it always makes me feel like I am going to accidentally hurt myself. And I can describe it as nails on a chalk board. However, I still do it to this day for one of two reasons. One being I like raising my arms when wearing a sleeveless top and being a smooth goddess. But the more serious reason is that I still have a problem with what other people think of me. I do it so people don’t look at me and say, “Ew what is she doing.” This is what society has said and done to women. Young adults, even in this evolving generation and society. I am shamed more than I want to admit, and it pisses me off that this is the society I live in. That I am judged for what hair is on my body.

I don’t only feel judged by my own mother on this issue, but most of society. So many people say women can dress however they wanted that they’ll support them. But that is only half true. When it comes to body hair, there is still some double standard to that. How society doesn’t question why men don’t save their legs, arms, or facial hair, but women are called gross or unappealing if we don’t shave everything. Lastly, the fact that I am even uncomfortable typing the word ‘armpit’ over and over truly shows how much society has put women into this box of feeling ashamed of our bodies.  

Hello everyone! My name is Mayah Gold and I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. This blog post is about my Agent of Change for my You and The World project. In my first blog post I talked about what rape culture is, and in my second blog post I talked about the research findings that were shown in my own SLA community. Based on my research, my change that I am making is putting posters around the school to inform people about what rape culture is, and what it looks like.

Even though this is the final blog post I will be writing, there is some more information that I have come to gather. In this further research, I have come to learn are ways that men and women can combat rape culture, ways that they can speak up and stop someone when they see them perpetuating this behavior. Furthermore, some of those examples include being respectful of someone's space even in a casual setting, thinking intensely about the media's portrayal of men and women and the stereotypes that are set up for us.

Moving on, for my agent of change I decided to build off of the open survey research and information I had gathered. I had seen examples of rape culture and victim blaming throughout my own community. The community that I was supposed to feel safe in. And seeing some of my results not only shocked me, but made me sad for my community. So as a result of those findings, I wanted to send messages around the school informing people exactly what rape culture is and how they might be enforcing it. So I made four posters with pictures of sexual assault victims quoting their attackers. None of these people I knew personally, but I had read their stories, and my heart ached for them. I wanted more people to realize what exactly rape culture is. I printed out the pictures, put two images on one poster, and wrote a little message under each other.

These are just two of the four posters that I hung around the SLA school building. I feel that by putting these up, I can make people see what other people have gone through. What sexual assault and rape culture they have experienced, and how these ideas can lead to a bigger problem.

Reflecting on the overall project, I would say this would have had to be my favorite project of any subject of my freshman year. I was given the opportunity to choose a topic that I am passionate on, and inform people about it, and then make a change. Another point was I loved going on a rant when people disagreed with me. I learned that others don’t have the same string opinions as me, which could be challenging at times to deal with. But within myself, I learned that I have a really strong voice about myself. And I want to share it. I feel like I could have done some more outside organization research with more powerful people. In conclusion, I would love to do this project all over again, just for thr fun of it!

Hello again, are you ready for round two? As you may have remembered, I have a passion for discussing rape culture and victim blaming. Here is some previous insight into my research on the topic. To recap, rape culture is a society that tries to justify rape, as well as other forms of sexual assault. Whereas victim blaming is putting blame on the victim as if rape is their fault.

Before I get into my personal research, I also did more online research to get more and more insight into what the internet has on my topic. What I found was a site that showed me common myths about sexual assault. Some included myths about how sexual assault cannot be performed by a spouse,  how people with disabilities are not common to be sexually assaulted, that men are not victims of sexual assault, that if you stay away from strangers you are less likely to be raped. This source showed me common ideas about sexual assault in the world, and it also showed me some statistics to break those myths. For instance, I learned that 60% of child sexual abuse cases are performed by someone the child knows outside the family, and 30% are assaulted by family members. I also learned that a person is sexually assaulted every 107 seconds, which is about a minute and a half.

In my first post, I talked more about examples of rape culture and victim blaming. In the beginning of this post, before my survey results, I am going to share some sad and shocking statistics. In my source, I read statistics that ranged from 2012-2015. Furthermore, I found that 91% of sexual assault are female, and 9% are male. I was also a little surprised to learn that eight out of ten of rape cases, the victim knew their attacker. I found these facts, and more, believably heartbreaking.

Onto my survey. After doing my research on my topic, I was really excited to get my real life research. Get to know what the people thought. Those “people” being my fellow peers in the SLA community. And in order to get the information I wanted, and the information I wanted to get was whether there were examples of rape culture and victim blaming in my own school community. So to get this information, I crafted a survey with five central questions. There was the basic question of what gender people identified with, and then I got into more heavier questions.

This picture above shows the results from one of my questions. I asked this because I knew it would be a sneaky way of tricking my survey subjects without pressuring them into the answers I wanted. These results show how 15/44 people believe flirtatious behavior is a possible cause of rape, and 13/44 believe that revealing clothing is another cause of rape. These percentages are just to name a few.

This was another one of my big questions I wanted answered. You might ask why. Why is this question so important? It is so important because results and percentages like are examples of rape culture. Are examples of victim blaming. People that believe modest clothing, less selfies, and ladylike behavior are the people that are representing rape culture in the SLA community.

My survey helped and taught me more about my topic. I mean, I had people I know, my own age, represent rape culture and victim blaming. And that really disappointed, upset, and saddened me. If you would like to view my full survey results, here it is.  

I am still wondering on how I can make a change in rape culture and victim blaming. Whether it be going around school and doing something, or going to a sexual assault crisis center, I am still figuring out what I want to do. What change I want to make on this issue.

When the media talks about rape, what comes to mind for you? Do you think blame the rapist, or unknowingly blame the victim? Rape culture and victim blaming for women. It’s a huge part of our society, and is shyed away for being taboo. There are two parts to this unpopular topic. But before I discuss that, I want to tell you my own feelings for choosing this topic. My goal in learning about this topic is so I can inform others in my own life exactly what rape culture is, and what they can do to prevent it, as well as victim blaming. This topic matters to me because I see behavior of rape culture in my own community, and hear victim blaming on the news and in the media all the time. Also, I believe that it important for others to know about because it is a topic that people don’t really recognize that much.

Now most people don’t know what exactly rape culture. The true definition of rape culture is society normalizing or trivializing rape of sexual abuse. There are so many examples and instances of rape culture, but to cover all would take at least a week. However, to name a few, rape culture is when people trivialize rape, saying things like “boys will be boys,” defending manhood as dominant and sexually aggressive, as well as putting pressure on men to “score.” Furthermore, assuming that men that are raped are “weak,” teaching women how to not “get” raped, pop music promoted messages such as “she wanted it.” To go on, women being called liars if they report rape is another example of rape culture. Further examples of rape culture include asking a rape victim how short her outfit was, how much she was drinking, or if she was flirting. The list goes on and on. All of these examples are real instances of rape culture.

This image depicts an example of a woman that was told this when she came forward about being raped. This another example of victim blaming in society.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/powerful-pictures-show-how-rape-8310169

On to part two, victim blaming. In society, there are two types of victim blaming. The people that intentionally blame the victim for the cause of the rape, and the people that don’t fully believe it was the victim's fault, but normalize her actions for being raped. For instance, victim blaming would count as the victim being flirtatious, wearing revealing clothing, making eye contact, and drinking. Sayings that are often associated with victim blaming include “she asked for it,” and “she didn’t say no.”

This picture is yet another example of victim blaming. Words like this is how society puts blame on the victim of rape. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/powerful-pictures-show-how-rape-8310169

There are ways to prevent victim blaming and rape culture within your community. Some examples include avoiding comments that degrades or objectifies women, let survivors know it is not their fault, not putting pressure on men to “score” with women, as well as supporting survivors. From learning about the topic, I know that I want to further educate my peers and community on the matter so they can educate others. Society has problems facing hard topics like this, because we all want to admit we would never trivialize such a horrible thing, but we do. Lastly, there are ways to prevent victim blaming and rape culture, as long as we are educated about it.

Printmaking is the process of transferring an image onto another piece of paper. It is important because it help creates designs for buildings, murals, and other architectures. The invention of printmaking is revolutionary for the same reason, that it started a whole new idea of pictures.

So yo

La hija de una mamá adoptada

Con una familia grande,

Hija unica

Producto de Filadelfia

No soy complete,

Porque no sé de dónde soy.

Yo veo Austria y Polonia.

Yo toco suave cuero libros,

Yo oigo rezos en hebréu.

Yo huelo papa panqueque, y

Yo saboreo fuerte perfume.

Baila con mi mamá

Habla en inglés y canta en hebréu.

Leo el romance.

Somos producto de Poland y Austria.

Somos judío

Hablamos inglés

Vivimos en América

Pero yo no saber todo sobre mi familia.

Throughout this project, I learned how important the process of research is. I never thought that when designing something, research was needed, but it is. When one researches for design, the research shows what contrasts or what goes well together. If it looks messy or neat. And when I was finished with my first slide, I realized that it looked somewhat messy. The pictures went past the edges and overlapped each other, but I fixed that. Now in my revision of my first slide, I cropped the pictures so that they didn’t touch the corners and so that they did not overlap with each other. I also added some words, because I received feedback that some words would complete it. As a result, I am really proud of my second slide.