In episode 9 of Grace and Frankie, Sol and Robert send out wedding invites. Frankie is upset when Grace gets hers, but Frankie doesn’t. Once Sol comes over, he finds Frankie’s invite amongst a collage she’s working on. After this, Frankie realizes she needs to set boundaries with Sol. Grace invites both Robert and Guy over and Robert finds out that Grace and Guy have been dating. Brianna starts to look for a new product for her company, and finds the answer from Grace which is Frankie’s yam lubricant.

 

Grace and Frankie “The Invitation” passes the Bechdel Test by including…

  1. Two women named Grace and Frankie
  2. Conversations where the women talk to one another
  3. Grace and Frankie having conversation about the yam lubricant with Brianna.

 

Grace Skolka (Hanson)

Masculine Traits:

  • Athletic
    • Grace pretends to like golf for the sake of getting along with Guy better.
  • Forceful
    • Grace brings her relationship with Guy on to Robert very forcefully and surprisingly.
  • Dominant
    • Grace and Frankie are folding sheets and Grace is very dominant in the conversation and actual folding of the fitted sheet.
  • Willing to take a stand
    • When Brianna is confused and lost about what to do with the company, Grace is willing to help her out. Brianna is hesitant but offers Frankie’s yam lubricant anyway.
  • Aggressive
    • When Robert tries to “win” back Guy by asking him to officiate his and Sol’s wedding, Grace is aggressive and tells Robert to back off and that Guy will not be helping him with the wedding.
  • Competitive
    • Grace and Frankie have a “competition” over who has a healthier relationship with their ex-husbands.

Feminine Traits:

  • Cheerful
    • Grace is very happy/proud of herself when she “kicks” Robert out because she wants to spend time with Guy.
  • Feminine
    • Grace gets really giddy and happy around Guy.
    • When Grace reads poetry, she seems really content and is in her element while reading it.
  • Sensitive to others’ needs
    • Grace really wants to make Guy happy so that he will still stay with her. In order to do so, she pretends to like things that he likes even though it’s not what she wants.
  • Compassionate
    • After Grace put her foot down about Guy being involved in Robert and Sol’s wedding, she tries to be very compassionate towards Robert and his stress around the wedding.
  • Soft-spoken
    • Grace is very soft-spoken towards Robert even though she is frustrated and upset with him.
  • Sensitive
    • Grace was very sensitive when she got Robert and Sol’s wedding invite. She didn’t really know how to act.

Frankie Bergestein

Masculine Traits:

  • Assertive
    • Frankie asserted herself by telling Grace she needed to be open and honest with Guy about her personal interests.
  • Forceful
    • Frankie was forceful with Sol when she realized that they really need to set boundaries in their relationship.
  • Makes decisions easily
    • Frankie was very open and honest with Sol and told him that she doesn’t want to go to his wedding.
  • Dominant
    • Frankie has to tell Sol to stay out of her business when she’s talking about her new relationship with Jacob.
    • As Frankie is upholding her boundary with Sol, she gets forceful with Sol and exclaims, “We said no more surprise visits!”
  • Individualistic
    • Frankie is very unique and individualistic while she’s making her yam lubricant.

Feminine Traits:

  • Cheerful
    • Frankie is very happy and excited to see Brianna.
  • Sensitive to others’ needs
    • Frankie is very sensitive and compassionate towards Sol and his being torn between Frankie and Robert.
  • Childlike
    • Frankie is very playful and childlike towards Grace and how she is pretending because she thinks she has to with Guy.
  • Sensitive
    • Frankie is very sensitive about the wedding as a whole, but more specifically because she didn’t think she got an invite from Robert and Sol.

 

In this episode, I would conclude that Grace and Frankie are mostly androgynous, but could be seen as more feminine than masculine. Grace is trying to move forward in her relationship with Guy and has to figure out how to figure that out with Robert. Frankie is still trying to figure out her situation with Sol because they are still very much connected. Even with these feminine aspects, they are both very aggressive and masculine throughout the episode.

Shared by: Reegan Haines
Image Credit: Grace and Frankie Season 1, Episode 9 (approximately :50)