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July 23, 2019 by Valerie Frankel · Arts & Culture

The NextTribe Test: Which Movies & TV Programs Show Us as We Really Are?

Welcome to the first edition of the NextTribe Test, where Valerie Frankel screens entertainment to ferret out where women over 45 are portrayed as multidimensional—and where they’re caricatures.

The famous Bechdel Test, created by graphic artist, Fun Home author, and MacArthur “Genius” Alison Bechdel, sets a low bar for female representation in entertainment with three basic criteria: (1) The work has two named women; (2) who talk to each other; (3) about something other than a man. In the last year, according to bechdeltest.com, two-thirds of new films pass, but the BBC News determined that only 49 percent of every Best Picture Oscar-nominated film in history passes the test.

A truly woke inclusivity test for women in TV and film would measure everything: race, sexual orientation, ability—but especially age. Forty-six percent of the U.S. female population is over 45. Are nearly half the women on TV middle age? Not by a long shot. At NextTribe, we would love to see more older women on screen, talking to each other, and doing anything besides baking, decorating, cheerleading kids, forgiving husbands, getting Botox, and crashing computers.

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NextTribe is a travel and events company for women 45+. We believe that now—at midlife—is our shaken-Etch-A-Sketch moment, when the slate is once again blank. Today, our conversations question which direction we are headed in and how to get there. How to drink it all in and how to give back. We’d like your voices and humor to be heard, your ideas to be shared, and for you to hear ours. This tribe is one of contemplation, inspiration, wit, and action. Though we may have men in our lives, we believe it’s invigorating to touch base at a time like this with people who have the same sagging parts and swinging moods. Now that we have more time for adventure, more experience for new life paths, more wisdom to connect the dots in our histories, and less care about what people think, we’re sure these coming years can be a glorious stretch. Spiritual and irreverent, creative and courageous, this site, these postings, will serve as our cave drawings and warrior paint. Please join us on our walkabout.