Jennifer Lawrence Calls Out Hollywood’s Gender Pay Gap
Jennifer Lawrence Calls Out Hollywoods Gender Pay Gap
Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner recently launched a blog, Lenny, that features exclusive interviews with feminist stars and letters from those women, among other interesting content. This week, Dunham asked actor Jennifer Lawrence to write an open letter reacting to the 2014 Sony e-mail hack in which it was revealed that she received a significantly lower salary than her male co-stars on the film American Hustle, despite her Academy Award-winning performance in Silver Linings Playbook, her leading role in The Hunger Games series and her work on other box office hits, such as X-Men: First Class.
In her essay, titled, Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?, Lawrence reveals that she feared appearing difficult or spoiled in her negotiations with Sony, so she didnt ask for a higher salary. She writes:
But if Im honest with myself, I would be lying if I didnt say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didnt want to seem difficult or spoiled. At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didnt worry about being difficult or spoiled. This could be a young-person thing. It could be a personality thing. Im sure its both. But this is an element of my personality that Ive been working against for years, and based on the statistics, I dont think Im the only woman with this issue. Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? Weve only been able to vote for what, 90 years?
Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesnt offend or scare men?
It seems the Sony hack revealed more to Lawrence than a difference in salary between her and her male co-starsit revealed another way pay inequity continues to divide and subordinate women, even in the shining lights of Hollywood. But Lawrence, being the badass we know and love, declares that she no longer fears how her opinion will be received.
She writes, Im over trying to find the adorable way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fuck that. I dont think Ive ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. Its just heard. Agreed, JLaw!
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/10/14/jennifer-lawrence-calls-out-hollywoods-gender-pay-gap/
burfman
(264 posts)Ms Lawrence is number 34 on the Forbes list for celebrities in 2015 with earnings of $54 million.
Think about that as you go about your normal existence.
Trying to make enough bread to keep your family clothed, fed, housed and healthy.
With hopefully some time left to spend with them on this short time we exist on this planet.
Who really should care about her and her salary complaints?
If she wants to make more money, all she has to do is fire her agent and get another better one.
I've wasted too much time on this just typing these words out.
Burfman...........................
http://www.forbes.com/profile/jennifer-lawrence/
niyad
(113,550 posts)dismissing her because she makes money (although, clearly, not as much as her male co-stars.)