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   Bodhipaksa (bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot)'s status on Saturday, 14-Feb-2026 17:46:08 JST Bodhipaksa

   Has anyone ever applied the Bechdel test to opera? (Does the opera include two women singing to each other about something other than a man?)

   I'll start:

   Puccini's Tosca: Fail.
   Delibes' Lakmé: Pass.

   • Embed this notice
     Jeri Dansky (jeridansky@sfba.social)'s status on Saturday, 14-Feb-2026 17:46:07 JST Jeri Dansky

     in reply to

     @bodhipaksa Ooh, my brother is the opera expert in my family. He's on vacation right now, but I'll ask him when he gets back.

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     Jeri Dansky (jeridansky@sfba.social)'s status on Sunday, 22-Feb-2026 17:00:27 JST Jeri Dansky

     in reply to

     @bodhipaksa So I asked my brother, who often sings in the chorus of a local and quite good opera company and attends a lot of opera, for any he knew that passed. His replies:

     Operas often are love focused so you often don’t even get two men singing to each other about anything but women. One that comes to mind is Saariaho’s Innocence.

     We recently saw Fun Home, the musical based on Bechdel’s first graphic novel memoir. That passes!

     Dialogues of the Carmelites by Poulenc passes.

     #opera