I think it is a gross generalization to say that we in fandom generally fail at the Bechdel test.
I also think the Bechdel test is a great way to look at media and portrayal of women, but it's not really a good way to tell whether something is feminist, or has strong portrayals of women, or characterizes females in a realistic light or the light in which we'd like to see them. When something doesn't pass the Bechdel test; you've got to look at why; I feel that the test is a better measure of what's going on in media/society as a whole than used as any kind of measure against as single work.
That said, I initially did have a gut "no no no" reaction to the idea of reducing the female cast by five, partly because P&P is such a strong work in a feminist light. I do think it's interesting, though, how such a story would show that the issues of reputation and loss of freedoms for homosexuals is similar to the lack of independence for women Austen explores through Lizzy.
I think many m/m slash stories ask us to conveniently forget the female characters, or to see them as less important (not because the author necessarily thinks they're less important because they're not important to the story). I think a genderswap!P&P, one could not help but remember the girls; the juxtaposition of the source text against the fic would imo say something in itself. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
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I also think the Bechdel test is a great way to look at media and portrayal of women, but it's not really a good way to tell whether something is feminist, or has strong portrayals of women, or characterizes females in a realistic light or the light in which we'd like to see them. When something doesn't pass the Bechdel test; you've got to look at why; I feel that the test is a better measure of what's going on in media/society as a whole than used as any kind of measure against as single work.
That said, I initially did have a gut "no no no" reaction to the idea of reducing the female cast by five, partly because P&P is such a strong work in a feminist light. I do think it's interesting, though, how such a story would show that the issues of reputation and loss of freedoms for homosexuals is similar to the lack of independence for women Austen explores through Lizzy.
I think many m/m slash stories ask us to conveniently forget the female characters, or to see them as less important (not because the author necessarily thinks they're less important because they're not important to the story). I think a genderswap!P&P, one could not help but remember the girls; the juxtaposition of the source text against the fic would imo say something in itself. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.