WebProNews

Tag: wage equality

  • Amanda Seyfried Talks About Gender Pay Disparity In Hollywood

    In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Times, Amanda Seyfried has finally spoken out about being victimized as an actress.

    “A few years ago, on one of my big-budget films, I found I was being paid 10 percent of what my male co-star was getting,” the 29-year-old Mean Girls star reveals. “And we were pretty even in status.”

    The movie star did not say which big-budget film and actor she was referring to, but she gave a few guesses as to why this had happened to her.

    “I think people think that just because I’m easy-going and game to do things, I’ll just take as little as they offer,” she said. “It’s not about how much you get, it’s about how fair it is.”

    She then added that it is up to every actress to fight for equal wages and decide if they are willing to walk away from something.

    The Mamma Mia! star also admitted that there is a long way to go before gender pay disparity in the film industry can be considered a thing of the past.

    Her comments echo a national movement fighting for income equality which states that women only make 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.

    The Ted 2 star is only one of the many Hollywood actresses that are willing to fight against unfair pay. Many of those actresses opened up about the sexism they have faced throughout their careers.

    One of those actresses is Boyhood’s Patricia Arquette who used her Academy Award victory as a platform to support wage equality.

    “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America!”

  • Patricia Arquette: I Was a Single Mother Living in a Garage

    Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech at the recent Oscars drew quite a bit of attention. She spoke out about pay equality in America and drew thunderous applause.

    “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 our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

    But some chuckled at the idea that a rich woman accepting an Oscar in a designer dress would talk about pay equality.

    One writer — a female — even condemned Patricia Arquette’s remarks.

    “Arquette’s political grandstanding played into every ugly stereotype about ‘feminism’ being about little more than some privileged white women trying to become more privileged,” Amanda Marcotte wrote in Slate. “Her comments were bad for the cause of equal pay and for feminism.”

    Since then, Patricia Arquette has spoken to a United Nations forum about why she is using her time in the spotlight to speak about this issue. It is not some “give back” pet project. She has been there.

    “People have asked me why I’m doing this, and it’s true, today I’m blessed, having some material success, for which I’m extremely grateful. But I have other truths, too. If I were to tell you as a child, there were times where I lived below the poverty line, literally not having shoes to wear that fit me, that would also be true. If I told you that I was a single mother at 20, and lived with my baby in a converted garage, and that I would worry about my baby’s nutrition while nursing, because I could only afford to eat macaroni and cheese mixed with water for a week so I could afford diapers, that would also be true.”