Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder

30 Sep 2011, 0:05 a.m.

What Women Discuss

Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2011 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.

If you are writing a piece of fiction, and you want to pass the Bechdel test but you don't know what women talk when we talk with other women, you might need some ideas. Here are a few topics I've discussed with other women over the past week. Not an exhaustive list.

  • Parts of a software application to test
  • Salary negotiation
  • Hairstyle efficiency & comparison
  • Medication and healthcare
  • Travel plans
  • A (female) friend's well-being
  • Plans to meet up
  • A useful mailing list
  • A book I just read
  • Leveling up at one's job

Comments

Avram
http://agrumer.livejournal.com/
30 Sep 2011, 14:19 p.m.

Also: How to rob that casino, repel that alien invasion, slay that dragon, and all the other various things that men generally do in action-adventure stories.

Avram
http://agrumer.livejournal.com/
30 Sep 2011, 14:19 p.m.

(Wait, you haven't discussed those things in the past week?)

Mel
http://blog.melchua.com
01 Oct 2011, 0:00 a.m.

Although sometimes we still need to wait for one of the men to rephrase our idea to repel the alien invasion before the posse is inspired to leap into action.

But one of the great things about fiction is that you can write the world as it could or should or might be.