Facts about Alison Bechdel
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Dykes To Watch Out For
Official site for her original stripsThe Bechdel Test for Women
Feminist Frequency explainsThe Rumpus Interview
2012 talk in delightful cartoon formAlison Bechdel
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Alison Bechdel Biography
Alison Bechdel is a cartoonist whose 2006 memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was a smash in the comics world as well as in the establishment literary world.
A graduate of Oberlin College (1981), Bechdel began her career in New York City, working office jobs while publishing single-panel cartoons in feminist publications.
Her strip Dykes to Watch Out For grew from random panels to a cast of characters, with national distribution to mostly feminist and lesbian press.
Fun Home was her breakthrough, a graphic novel of self-discovery and Bechdel’s attempt at understanding her father. National publications listed it as one of the best books of the year, a triumph for a book of cartoons.
After cranking out more Dykes to Watch For, Bechdel took a break to produce her second book, a graphic novel about her relationship with her mother, 2012’s Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama.
She is also credited with popularizing “The Bechdel Test” for movies, a feminist ranking for feature films. To “pass” the test, a film must feature at least two women — who talk to each other — about something other than men.