8 Reasons Why The 100 Kicks Ass

The 100 is an amazing show, especially in relation to it’s representation. Here are 8 things that The 100 is doing right.

1.   Passes the Bechdel Test

• does the story have a) more than one woman, b) who talk to each other, c) about something other than a man
  
• The relationships between women is one of the highlights of this show. With the exception of Raven and Clarke on occasion, there are practically no interactions between women regarding men. Ex. Clarke & Octavia, Clarke & Lexa, Octavia & Indra, Clarke & Anya (etc.)

2.    Passes The Pantomime Test

• The female character can be swapped with a male character, with little to no edits, and the narrative still makes sense
  
• If you use Clarke as an example, yes. Clarke is not overtly masculine, but nor does she use her femininity/sexuality to advance herself. She is not limited or treated differently because she is a woman. She is made a leader of the 100 because she is smart and brave and caring, not because of her femininity, and could therefore be replaced by a man.

3.    Passes The Oracle Test

• The show has a disabled character who a) is not there ‘to be fixed’; b) whose narrative does not revolve around the disability; c) does their job while having a disability, not in spite of having a disability.
• Raven Reyes became disabled in S2 and has continued to me an amazingly strong character and awesome mechanic throughout the season.

4.    Passes the Mako Mori Test

• the show has: a) at least one female character; b) who gets her own narrative arc; c) that is not about supporting a man’s story.
  
• This show has females with their own arc practically every episode because they all have their own skills and strengths that make them play an important role in their society.
  
• Ex: Abby Griffin, Octavia Blake, Lexa, Clarke Griffin, Anya, Raven Reyes (etc.)

5.    Passes the Vito Russo Test

• The show has a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender a) who must not be solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity b) and must be tied into the plot in such a way that their removal would have a significant effect.
  
• Commander Lexa is LGBTQ (likely queer), however this is not her predominant identifying factor, she is a strong warrior and leader of a large clan. Lexa also plays a large role in the show, forming an alliance between the grounders and the sky people.
  

6.    Passes Deggans Rule

• The show has at least two non-white human characters in the main cast a) in a show that’s not about race.
  
• This rule is passed by a landslide with characters like: Bellamy Blake, Wells Jaha, Marcus Kane, Thelonious Jaha, Lincoln, Indra, Anya, Monty Green, Miller (+more)

7.    Passes the Phyrne Fisher Test

• The show has a female character who a) has a traditionally masculine job; b) does not masculinize herself for the sake of the job; c) and is not sexualized in the narrative.
  
• Raven Reyes is a mechanic, Byrne is the Chief of the Guard and Lexa is the leader of a large group of warriors.
  
• Mechanics, and leaders of a military force are both traditionally positions held only by men. These women are respected for their work and there is no scandalization in regard to a woman holding these positions.
  

8.    Passes the Delany (Tauriel) Test

• The show has a woman, a) who has a job/task important to the plot of the story b) and is successful at it.
  
• Raven Reyes, Abby Griffin (+more)
  
• Raven is the youngest zero-gravity mechanic on the Ark in 52 years and helps her people countless times throughout the course of the series. Abby is the head of medical on the Ark, and saves people’s lives (Thelonious, Raven, Lincoln) regularly.