Everyone’s talking about Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech at the Oscars, where the actress used her time at the microphone after winning the Best Supporting Actress Award, to speak passionately about equal pay.
“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
Meryl Streep’s reaction has gone viral. She was sitting next to Jennifer Lopez (are they mates?) and the two of them literally shouted with glee at Arquette’s words, with Streep cheering enthusiastically.
Hollywood has long had lower pay for women, which came to light after the movie American Hustler, when both female leads, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence got paid 7% of the profits, while male leads, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale, were on 9%. Just for no particular reason whatsoever other than the fact they were men.
And sure, a Hollywood salary is something we can only dream of (who wouldn’t love to get 7% of a big movie’s profits?), but if the wage gap starts there and is considered normal, what happens when that’s trickled down into society? The salary gap grows bigger.
It’s an issue President Barack Obama has personally taken up this year, spurred on, no doubt, by the fact that he has two daughters.
Arquette continued her speech in the media room afterwards, saying, “It is time for us. Equal means equal.”
While some argue the Academy Awards are not the right forum for a political speech, we think it’s the perfect forum. She had everyone’s attention, and she wasn’t going to waste that opportunity.
Check out Meryl’s reaction below…
Video courtesy of Fairfax Media
What did you think of Patricia’s speech? Tell us below!…
