Does this scene fail the Bechdel test?

Question

My novel has approximately a dozen women in it, but they don’t tend to talk to each other. Most of them are separated geographically or philosophically and sitting down for a chat does not seem something they would do as they are busy doing other things.I have two scenes; in one a kidnapper is asking advice from a teenage girl who has a boyfriend on how to attract the notice of the MC - probably fails the test, but essential scene.The second scene is one where two lifelong friends are watching their sons compete and are discussing an impending foreclosure and then one misconstrues the intent of the other, who was watching her brother, as something potentially romantic. No romantic interest was involved, but the friend has just assessed qualities in the MC she needs for a guardian for her son.Would that scene fail the Bechdel test?

Answer 1

While I would say that both of these scenes fail the Bechdel test on a technical level, the Bechdel test is only a shorthand for female representation. More importantly, are your female characters thought-out, written respectfully, competent and capable? Do they take action on their own, without needing a prompt from a male character? These sorts of questions are what make good female characters, and if their answers are all in order the Bechdel test itself becomes less important.