In 1985, American cartoonist and graphic novelist, Alison Bechdel, presented the world a precise criteria to determine whether or not she’d watch a movie, this is known as the Bechdel Test.

Alison Bechdel was born on September 16, 1960 in Lock Haven Pennsylvania. She decided to take her stories and experiences of growing up in a rough environment and being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and turn them into small comics for the world to enjoy.

In 1983 She started a comic strip called, “Dy**s to Watch Out For” (DTWOF). This comic strip was extremely different for its time. It portrays a set of diverse lesbians just living their life. Bechdel thought this representation for not only women, but queer women, was very needed for this time. This comic still has an impact today. In 1985, a new issue of the comic came out that got people rethinking how they view their favorite movies. The comic issue became known as the Bechdel test, which created the Bechdel criteria for female representation in films.  The Bechdel Test includes the following:

• There must be two female characters

• They must have names

• They must talk to each other about something other than a man

This criteria may seem easy to some, but a lot of common family movies actually don't meet this mark.

Historically in films, women are portrayed as inferior, weak, and fragile compared to the male lead. Women are seen as prizes, objects, and helpless damsels that need to be saved. For example, the “Damsel in Distress” archetype, like King Kong’s Ann Darrow for example, had been used for years, arguing women are in need of a man, when in reality, that’s not the case. These women are typically fair skinned, small, and meet the beauty standard of the time- which often excludes diversity.

This low standard for women began to change as women started to leave their mark on society. Women such as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and Barbra Streisand started to lead in their own movies and put their names in the headlines. All of these women have faced their own controversies and backlash from the media and even their own employers, but they also gave women characters to  express their voices. Audrey Hepburn grew up malnourished and that impacted her body through adulthood; she starred in hit movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. Marilyn Monroe endured many scandals, including one with President JFK; she was also a major sex symbol of the time and many people didn’t take her seriously. However, she  kept herself booked by starring in movies such as Some Like it Hot and How to Marry a Billionaire, and her name stayed in the headlines. Barbra Streisand was hated for being Jewish, but that didn’t stop her from making hit movies like Funny Girl and A Star is Born.

The Bechdel Test has brought awareness to this issue of underrepresentation of women in movies. For years, women have had to fight cultural and political gatekeepers to get recognition.  The struggle for women to show their worth beyond merely being a pretty face is one that still resonates today with many women. Audrey Hepburn changed and challenged the beauty standard while also portraying independent female leads. Girls and women today are more encouraged to love themselves, and fight the unrealistic beauty standard that still lingers in the world. Marilyn Monroe fought and exposed the sexist film industry by creating Marilyn Monroe Productions; moreover, she fought for equal rights for African Americans and women with her friend: Ella Fitzgerald. Girls and women today are influenced to fight back against racism and sexism.  Similar to Marilyn, Barbra Streisand fought to spread awareness about discrimination against women by founding Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center, and working with politicians to speak out against issues regarding women’s rights and making sure women get the healthcare they need. Girls and women today are motivated to speak out against something that clearly isn't right. 

The concept and standard for women has spilled itself into our favorite childhood movies, including the movies of today.  Movies like Spider-Man, Star Wars, and most Disney princess movies have a scene where the female lead is in danger and has to be saved by the male lead. The movie industry has a strong pushback when it comes to change and diversity, with some recent exceptions with the Hunger Games, Barbie, Frozen, and Moana.   However, exceptions to the Damsel in Distress don’t undo the decades of damage where girls, boys, women, and men all watched females be degraded, put-down, underappreciated on the big screen.  

The Bechdel Test has brought awareness to this issue of underrepresentation of women in movies and shines a light on how women are portrayed in movies. This is important because the way women are treated is just not right. The point of view that movies seem to have on women is outdated, and needs to be called out. The next time you watch a movie, think about whether it passes the Bechdel Test or not and discuss your findings with friends, family, and your school community. And if you’re feeling bold, use your voice on social media and tag the professionals affiliated with the film.

This is a list of films that fail the Bechdel Test:

• Ratatouille

• Shrek

• The Avengers

• Toy Story

• Oppenheimer

• Back to the Future

• A Minecraft Movie

• Mulan

This is a list of films that pass the Bechdel Test:

• Little Women

• Sinners

• Black Swan

• Coraline

• Hunger Games

• Barbie

• Frozen

• Moana

Introduction

An economic recession is a financial crisis that will impact most aspects of people's lives but is discussed by the public very little. Despite this, the internet has begun taking an interest through silly videos describing how ‘we’re so back’. Whether it’s maxi skirts coming back into style, or artists releasing music meant for clubbing, trends that signal a recession are coming back and people are buying. But knowing the pop culture trends that signal a recession  isn’t enough. And as the amount of searches for the meaning of a recession rises, so does the problem that there’s a clear lack of knowledge on the topic. 

What is a Recession?

An economic recession is defined as “a general decline in economic activity and a widespread drop in spending” (TD 1). However, a recession is much more than just the definition. It typically begins a chain of events that lead to unemployment and a lack of excess spending from consumers. Recessions can be caused by many different factors, but these are some of the big ones. 

Natural disaster - Something big that shakes a community, like a flood or a tornado, can also shake up the economy, either by destroying homes and business, or requiring people to put their funds towards rebuilding.  “The resulting instability and uncertainty can send companies and people into a panic. When companies and people become more conservative about spending, the economy can contract, as seen in the short-lived 2020 COVID-19-induced recession”’ (TD 3).  COVID-19 was a major example of disaster striking the economy, leading to a drop in spending, as well as a drop in earnings. “To summarize, the net U.S. Real GDP losses from COVID-19 are estimated to range from $3.2 trillion (14.8%) to $4.8 trillion (23.0%) in a 2-year period for the three scenarios” (Machado et al. 4).

Overheating economies - if an economy grows too quickly, the demand for goods skyrockets, growing more expensive. When business owners start to overcharge, because of the price of labor or tariffs, people become less inclined to spend money. Not only do businesses start to change their prices, but they also begin to stop hiring and start laying people off. And with fewer people working, and consumers spending less, the economy begins to decline, which starts off a recession. “In short, overheating means that the economy is operating at its limits, and that productivity is not keeping pace with demand” (Mironenko 4).

Lipstick Index

The lipstick index is an economic theory that proposes that when in a recession, there will be boosted sales in affordable luxury goods like lipsticks, nail polish, and perfumes because  people will usually buy “affordable luxuries” (as experts call it) to get small doses of dopamine from these purchases while not breaking the bank. Experts use the lipstick index to forecast recessions and bear markets. This theory was coined in 2001 by Leonard Lauder, billionaire heir to the Estee Lauder empire, while the U.S economy was in a recession, though company sales were rising counteractively.

 Although Lauder is credited with this idea, the same pattern can be found tracing back way farther to post WWII when luxury brands like Channel and Dior started marketing towards women who couldn't afford expensive bags and clothes and started promoting cheaper goods like lipstick and perfume. Overall, the lipstick effect might be a recession indicator but it also shows part of human nature and how our brains blank out when it comes to money. 

Fashion and Trends

Gen Z seems to have fallen in love with the extravagant 2000s (Y2K) style. The brand Hollister recently dropped a 2000s anniversary line which included references to their old clothing items. The line was very popular among the new generation, selling out quickly in multiple stores. It seems that as the economy drops, so do the jean waistlines, as lowrise bell bottom jeans are back in style. For example, 2008 was a peak year for the style but not for finances, as the stock market began to crash.  This crash was due to banks lending out too many variable interest rate loans, which indirectly correlated to the economic downfall in 2008. Y2K was popularized at first, because the items were originally 7  more accessible and cheaper, and seemed an ideal situation for teens and young adults as the economy was crumbling, and the same may be happening currently. 

Similarly, going back to the 1930s, when the Great Depression hit the USA, the skirts became shorter due to the lack of fabric materials. A similar thing happened in the 2000s, when the Y2K style popularized mini skirts, a trend that’s making a huge comeback today. Beyond fashion, there are microtrends, such as the infamous ‘Labubus’ which actually tie back to the lipstick index, with people buying tiny trinkets for their expensive purses without spending too much money. While the Y2K style is loved by many and itself causes no harm, the unhealthy beauty standards from the 2000s have also been creeping their way back into society to where young girls are participating in harmful and toxic tactics to try to achieve the near impossible ‘ideal skininess’ of the 2000s. Celebrities are using the diabetes medicine Ozempic to lose weight and some of them, like Lizzo, who were known for their body positive image, have been criticized for adhering to these standards and using the medicine to lose weight. While all of these trends and ideals may not be directly related to recessions, they all somehow resemble past events which were related to a past recession.

Will a Recession Happen Soon?

Although it’s hard to predict a recession, economists have begun to examine the patterns to attempt to predict one. Influencers in particular, have started to label things as ‘recession indicators,’ from silly things like Sonny Angels, to things like the length of skirts. An expert from The Wall  makes his opinion known, “For a time during the housing crisis recession in 2008, the economy felt stable, even as we entered recession.” Today is similar. While the gross domestic product is still rising, driven by the AI boom, “nearly every other measure of economic activity has stagnated or is in deep decline.” The United States may already be in recession. But “we don’t feel it yet” (Mathis, 3). He makes a great point, the ‘eye of the storm’ might just be where the U.S. is right now. We don’t know it, or we pretend not to know that a big recession is catching up to us. Another expert backs this up, saying “This recession, when it lands, will not be a repeat of 2008. The dangers are different — and in some ways, more permanent. In past crises, job losses came from factories shutting down or banks imploding. This time, layoffs are happening in sleek glass towers and corporate boardrooms. Artificial intelligence has given companies a new way to cut costs. No need for pink slips or awkward meetings — just one software update and an entire department disappears. The human cost is invisible but immense. People aren’t just losing their jobs; they’re losing their purpose. And this time, there’s little guarantee those jobs will return” (Ghlionn, 4). We agree with him, there’s a very strong chance that a recession is coming due to a number of factors, and that’s unfortunate. The only way to get through a recession is to stay vigilant and not give into fear or despair, and that’s what we   need to do.  Lean on community, focus on finding the good, and look for opportunities to adapt to the new world.

Works Cited

Chase, Whitney. “The 2000s Are Back, and So Are It's Body Issues.” sarahleerecovery, 28 February 2024, https://sarahleerecovery.com/y2k-fashion-and-body-issues/. Accessed 15 October 2025.

Fahmy, Gabrielle. “Labubu craze could be a recession indicator, economist says.” New York Post, 9 August 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/08/09/us-news/labubu-craze-could-be-a-recession-indicator-economist-says/.  Accessed 15 October 2025.

Lerman, Rachel, and Elena Lacey. “Six recession warning signs Americans can watch for.” The Washington Post, 14 October 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/14/recession-indicators-warning-signs/. Accessed 15 October 2025.

Lerman, Rachel, and Elena Lacey. “Six recession warning signs Americans can watch for.” The Washington Post, 14 October 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/10/14/recession-indicators-warning-signs/. Accessed 15 October 2025.

Machado, Juan, et al. “The Impacts of the Coronavirus on the Economy of the United States.” The Impacts of the Coronavirus on the Economy of the United States, 2022, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7725664/.  Accessed 24 October 2025.

Mannion, Mary, and Seth Carlson. “What is the Lipstick Index? | Chase.” Chase Bank, 5 June 2025, https://www.chase.com/personal/investments/learning-and-insights/article/what-is-the-lipstick-index. Accessed 15 October 2025.

Mathis, Joel. “Is the US in recession?” The Week, 24 October 2025, https://theweek.com/business/economy/us-recession-signs-jobs-costs.  Accessed 3 December 2025.

Mironenko, Peter. “The unpredictable consequences of economic overheating.” The Bell, 28 June 2024, https://en.thebell.io/the-unpredictable-consequences-of-economic-overheating/. Accessed 15 October 2025.

“The next recession: A unique economic challenge ahead.” The Hill, 17 November 2025, https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5608486-ai-jobs-relevance-recession/. Accessed 3 December 2025. 

Reddy, Karina. “1930-1939 | Fashion History Timeline.” Fashion History Timeline, 5 April 2019, https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1930-1939/.  Accessed 15 October 2025.

Yeon, Madison. “StyleThe Party Girl’s Guide to Recessions, Hyperpop, and Y2K.” Trillmag, 31 August 2024, https://www.trillmag.com/lifestyle/style/the-party-girls-guide-to-recessions-hyperpop-and-y2k/. Accessed 15 October 2024.

Empathy is traditionally described as ‘putting yourself in another person’s shoes’. In selective empathy, one empathizes only with those whom he/she feels deserves it or perceives as such (Vinayak). On September 10th 2025, many of us saw the murder of known debater Charlie Kirk.  There were reactions all over social media ranging from shock to disbelief to sadness to joy.  It struck me how everyone reacted.  I found myself in a light state of mourning for the unnecessary and brutal loss of a human life.  To process, I interviewed a politically active and emotional friend.

1. Do you think Charlie Kirk deserved to die? 

Nariah: “No. I don’t think he deserved to die, it’s not in my personal beliefs, death shouldn’t be praised, in any way. He was human, just like everybody else.” 

2. Do you think many others share your opinion? 

Nariah: “Online, I didn’t see many people  celebrating his death, but they did remember the beliefs he stated before he died. A guy I follow, Dean Withers, an activist for the Democratic party, began crying on camera after learning of his death, and people thought he was moving to the Republican side, which is completely false. But it shows that empathy was there. He was scared for his friend who was at that campus, it obviously brought a lot of emotions.

3. What have you seen about him online?

Nariah: “I have seen edits of him dying, and his actual shooting. His death video has been surfing around and it's not necessarily a bad thing since media censorship is active, but a kid shouldn’t have to see that.” 

4. Would you call yourself empathic? 

Nariah: Yes. Definitely. I’m left-leaning for a reason. But both the Democratic and Republican parties are un-empathetic at times. Ultimately, they are both run by rich people, who seem to be only interested in themselves. 

5. Do you think he died a martyr, & do you think he deserves a day to be remembered? 

Nariah: No. He didn’t die a martyr. And, absolutely not, he doesn’t deserve a day. How long did MLK Day take to even get on calendars? It took 32 years for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to become a federal holiday and another 17 years for all 50 states to recognize it. 

6. Piggybacking off of the last question, do you think you would still feel the same way about Charlie if he were a Black man? 

Nariah: Yes. Realistically, he wouldn’t even be able to be a Black man due to Charlie’s racism towards Black people, but yes.  Like that time he said, If I see a Black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.

7. Did you know he didn’t believe in empathy? 

Nariah: Yes, yes, I did know. Thus why, when people don’t have empathy for his death, it's understandable.  And everyone was talking about that time he said during one his debates, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

8. Online, did you see more people saying “Good Riddence” or “RIP Charlie 🕊️” ?

Nariah: It was an equal balance, but more people were saying he didn’t deserve to die, but that he had very questionable morals; I agree he has questionable morals yet violence is, still, never the answer. 

9. Do you think empathy is declining or rising in people? 

Nariah: I see a lot of empathy in people nowadays, but empathy seems to be more practiced by young people.

⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼

About an hour and a half after the news of Charlie Kirk getting shot on a college campus, his death began to spread across social media. Videos of people running off campus, influencers talking about him and what happened, and people spreading around news that he died. This was way too much for me, until I found out he actually died that day. I called my mother first, telling her the news, and all she said was “Somebody got him.” 

After about another hour of scrolling through TikTok, I hit CNN news. It was a live police chase of the suspect for his death. A few more scrolls down, I found videos of people who called the whole thing “wild” and I found the situation out of the normal range of events for a random day in September. My mind then began to jump from area to area, thinking of why people would celebrate a human life being taken. Of course, these people are entitled to their opinion, just like Charlie was, but I wondered if it ever got to a moment in time when people were just making too much fun of him. Then I opened Instagram, and it consisted of people joking about his shooting, people already making memes. But on the other side, there were people making videos of how they stood behind Charlie, and that he was a “good man.” I was conflicted about how to feel, but I knew where I stood about how he died. Then the video began to spread. His death was so quick, it was almost unbelieveable. Seeing such a brutal, quick and bloody death on a phone really struck me. 

What I felt about him dying was a strong sense of empathy, but most of that’s gone now. Why? Well, the first reason is from all the things he has said resurfacing on the internet, and people trying to give others reasons to not mourn at all. The second reason is called selective empathy. That's “when we show kindness and understanding to some people or situations but not to others” (Hall). This idea changes the way that some people think about empathy, possibly making them remember that one time they felt rapport towards a friend or a family member. That’s empathy, but that was chosen to be given based on people’s beliefs and backgrounds. So how exactly does Charlie Kirk’s death show aggressive examples of selective empathy? Let’s get into the screenshots. (Names and profile pictures have been blurred for privacy)

This is the exact comment that was on a video, posted just a few hours after the shooting. This person could have likely not liked him at all, and could have wished death on him every day. Who knows? But that doesn’t change the fact that this person isn’t in the right at all for saying this. Where is their empathy? Most likely not there due to the fact that “Our biases, backgrounds, or personal feelings can shape who we show empathy toward” (Hall). The whole idea of a person with biased empathy is someone who only feels empathy towards people they share things with, whether that be race, political views, gender, or personal beliefs. When they meet another person with differences from them makes them not want to care. This can be seen here: 

You can clearly see they don’t care about Charlie dying, and I saw many of these comments. Along with comments saying people were conflicted and didn’t know how to feel. People here most likely didn’t know Charlie on a personal level, and they knew they didn’t agree with him. Free speech protects the right to a biased opinion, even in an Instagram comment section. Charlie had free speech too, of course, but what do you think people begin to think of him after he abuses that line? After he decides to say the most dehumanizing things about women and then say “Free Speech exists?”

In his death, you result with people who feel more safe without him on Earth, and people who genuinely didn’t mourn at all. You get people who feel more at peace. So what does this mean? This means that even though people didn’t have empathy for him at all, they still had an emotional impact due to his death, even if they didn’t have a very negative reaction to it. In a study reported by Yiyi Yang, they found that “Behavioral studies have found that when watching an immoral person experience bad things, people feel less empathic than when watching a moral person experience the same things” (Yang et. al). You can see this in every person who celebrated his death, along with the people who celebrated MLK’s death, calling him a “troublemaker” (National Museum of African-American History and Culture).

In conclusion, even though I didn’t agree with him politically, personally, or in any way, shape or form, “Charlie Kirk Day” or anything that honors him as a martyr should be private and kept personal; instead of showing his death to the world, and comparing his to MLK’s or JFK’s assassinations is ridiculous. 

This selective empathy was just a snippet of what our generation has happening on a daily basis, such as a moment on the stairs. Someone walking down slowly, because they’re sick and it hurts to move. Somebody walks behind them, giving them the “side-eye” and telling them to “move their feet” instead of just walking around and actually listening to them when they were trying to give an explanation to why they were going a bit slower than usual. But then that same person used to care a year ago. It’s moments like this that really bring the sense of community down. That feeling of “Hey, I get what’s going on, and I understand.” Let’s play “Where has it gone”: 

• To their friends? Definitely. 

• To their family? Most likely, yes. 

• To the girl who fell on the stairs? Definitely not. They don’t know her, why should they care? Ding, Ding, Ding! 

Empathy is in the same boat as selfishness; it’s a human thing and happens naturally, but it gets to a point “when you lose your humanity, it's wrong” (Nariah). As people, we automatically empathize with people, and it’s hard to get rid of, but what happens when people like Charlie, who didn’t empathize with anybody from Gaza or any victims of gun violence? A person who openly was alright with gun violence, and said it was fine to lose a couple people to it, even though it became the thing that killed him? Irony, right, but really think about it.

Let’s think back to the movie, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. We all know the story, an orphaned child, turned bell-ringer, an immoral person by the name of Frollo put him there, and watched in happiness as Quasimodo was ridiculed and mocked. We all felt bad, right? What about when Frollo fell? How did you feel? Happy for Quasimoto? Exactly. Empathy doesn’t just mold what you believe, it molds what you grieve. What you feel daily, because you’re human. 

Works Cited

CDC. “Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Basics.” Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, 17 Apr. 

2024, Article. 

“Do Bad People Deserve Empathy? Selective Empathy Based on Targets’ Moral 

Characteristics” PubMed Central, 5 Dec. 2022, Article. 

Leff, Frances. “On the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.” The American Journal of 

Nursing, vol. 68, no. 7, July 1968, p. 1522. DOI.org (Crossref), Article.. 

“Mourning the Death of Martin Luther King Jr.” National Museum of 

African-American History and Culture, Article. 

Stein, Chris. “Charlie Kirk in His Own Words: ‘Prowling Blacks’ and ‘the Great 

Replacement Strategy.’” The Guardian, 12 Sept. 2025. US News. The Guardian, Article. 

“What Is Selective Empathy? 7 Signs Your Empathy Might Be Biased.” The Minds 

Journal, 6 Dec. 2024, Article.