The conversation seeped over to the red carpet at Wednesday’s premiere of “Crimson Peak,” where stars Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska praised the Oscar winner for highlighting the issue and bringing attention to sexism in the film industry.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Actresses praise Lawrence's gender pay gap essay: ‘It’s brave’
The conversation seeped over to the red carpet at Wednesday’s premiere of “Crimson Peak,” where stars Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska praised the Oscar winner for highlighting the issue and bringing attention to sexism in the film industry.
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Given how long this has been an issue, I am also surprised that in 2015 we are still debating the need for equal pay. Jennifer Lawrence's essay didn't come a second too soon. Feminism is slowly becoming less of a dirty word in popular culture, and the cultural discourse surrounding issues of equality are definitely still leaning towards the liberal. Yet I still find that many women and men distance themselves from the concept of feminism for fear of seeming like a rabble rouser and trouble maker. Someone needed to take another step to break the ice and show that a person can be wildly successful, speak out against problem in the industry in which she works and stay at that same level of success. In order to start the movement, you first need a leader, and then you only need a single person to follow them to let everyone else know that it is ok to join in. Jennifer Lawrence has stepped into a leadership position in the fight for equality. It is good to see other actresses and actors following. It only takes a few people to turn a radical idea into a movement.
Week after week we see articles talking about gender disparity in the entertainment industry, and every week it seems like there is more and more good news. People, both women and men, are speaking out against the wage gap which can only mean good things to come. However, not much is going to change unless there is a legislative decision to make it illegal to have a wage gap because it’s not like the people who decide wages don't know that they are paying women less than men because they are the ones making the disparity. And even if it was a law, enforcing it will be extremely difficult. Which is such a downer to think about. But the more people who speak out against the wage gap will hopefully make everyone more consciously aware and sympathetic to the women who are not being as respected as men. Jennifer Lawrence speaking against the wage gap is especially important because she is so well known and loved by her fans. I have hope now.
I find it pretty disappointing that women in general still have to worry about being branded as "difficult" and ungrateful and men have no worry at all. Sure, women have made great strides towards equality, but when I hear about these situations it makes me think about how much more we could be doing if it weren't for that little voice in the back of women's heads saying "Don't push you're luck." or "maybe it's not a gender thing. Maybe it's just you.". I love how Jennifer Lawrence's essay has set precedent for other women of Hollywood to speak out and start thinking about how they can solve this problem. It really is true, I can't think of a single reason why this gap should still exist or why it existed in the first place. It is amazing how one person speaking their mind can lead to the beginning of change for an entire group for people. This movement is at its beginning but in the future, I would love to see what legal plans can be made to make sure this is stopped.
Bravery in the eye of the modern citizen is a strangely skewed concept. In centuries past, bravery has come from people performing tasks that humans are typically not meant to perform. Amelia Earhart flying around the world, Martin Luther King Jr. marching through Selma, Rosa Parks staying on the bus, examples of the traditional idea of bravery. Now, the status quo is so mundane, with so many of Earth's frontiers explored, that bravery has metastasized into this concept that to be brave you merely have to go beyond what society expects, not what humanity expects. And so, Caitlyn Jenner was brave for coming out as a woman and undergoing the surgery required to become a woman. Jennifer Lawrence is brave for talking about the pay gap. Now, I'm not a paragon of bravery or anything, but when bravery only entails calling attention to who you are as a person, the whole construct becomes warped. If we lived in a society where women were equal, where it didn't concern anyone what gender you identified as, we would focus more attention on the true bravery required to make your mark on humanity. Societal change is tough, especially since women have been regaled for so long as being "worth less", as anything they can do, a man can do better, which is patently false.
To truly see bravery again, we as a society must step back and take a good hard look at ourselves. Where does paying women less get us? Where does ostracizing transgender folk get us? Embracing your identity based on what chromosomes you have shouldn't entail bravery. Changing the perspective on what a human can do in their millisecond on this Earth? That's brave.
The comment was brave, undoubtedly, and right to be made. But what is alarming is that this conversation feels behind relative to where it is in some places and definitely needs to be. The women in this article are fantastically talented, and right to begin to talk about this issue. However, when the subject of the article becomes focused on Lawrence's bravery, and how afraid many famous women are to speak on the issue, the image that is released to the public isn't as beneficial. To the observer who needs to be changed by this article, Lawrence as well as the other actresses appear meek and in need of help because the construct is so screwed up. This response actually leads to significantly worse reactions in people who support the current construct, as their response points to a control that they simply have the power to reassert. Now, if the article were about how Lawrence's comments were another force on the road to gender equality and dismantling the patriarchy, the voices that seek to put her down may have a response that allows for further conversation, and perhaps even fear, which strengthens the voices of those who desperately need to join this cause.
Lawrence's comment is very important in increasing the visibility of this issue, which doesn't affect only women in film. In almost all industries women are still paid less than men for doing the exact same work. In my interpretation and argument class we read an article on feminism that included the story of a factory owner who hired woman because "they're obedient and work harder than men, and we can pay them less". Although this was only the opinion of one person, a surprising amount of people found no issue with this statement. From a young age women are taught to be seen not heard, and to not protest. This stereotype of women as submissive and obedient is what leads to women being afraid to speak out about the problems they face. You would think that in 2015 we wouldn't still be debating equal pay, so I hope that we wont have to for much longer.
To have as popular an actress as Lawrence write out her frustrations about the gender pay gap in Hollywood is a huge leap. But I don't think her words are going to do much in the way of changing the ways the old white men who run the big businesses pay women in entertainment. What we need is a change in power -- a new order of people who run large organizations and know the difference between sexism and equality. How that's going to happen, I have no idea. There is a great amount of fear that runs through how women conduct themselves in the industry, especially in connection to the equal pay gap. We also shouldn't forget that the women speaking out on this topic are white women -- imagine the outrage you'd hear if a woman of color spoke out about her even greater struggle to be paid as much as the average white actor. We need a change of the guard in entertainment -- hopefully in the next twenty years we'll have some new people who will change the inequalities we see today.
This pay gap thing is ridiculous and I’m sure exists in theatre too. I once had a male friend ask me why women don’t haggle for higher pay and it’s exactly the reasons outlined in the article. As a woman, it’s a curse to be branded “difficult”. We are constantly held to different standards than our male counter parts. In the theatre people who work on the sets are traditionally paid more money than the people working on the costumes. I spend more time in Purnell working than any of the TD’s but I will never make as much money as them and it has a lot to do with gender. I’m not ashamed to say it. Women have traditionally dealt with everything dealing with clothing from the earliest civilizations until today. Many third world countries in which our clothes are made staff mainly women in their factories. This has of course lead to some kind of pay gap in our industry.
I continue to be baffled by how deep and pervasive the gender pay gap still is here in America. What is even more unsettling about the gender pay gap is in it’s ability to permeate careers regardless of the degree of an industries social responsibility. The arts industry is typically considered to be a progressive and inclusive field. Heck, that’s why I have chosen a career in the arts. How is it that this gender pay discrimination still exists, in this day and time, across seemingly every career field? There are no legitimate excuses for the gap in wages across genders, yet the gap exists. Why?!
I say more power to Jennifer Lawrence! And even more kudos to those women and men who are taking a vocal stand for the injustice that is gender based pay inequality here in the United States. I hope, no I encourage, women to be as outspoken and insistent on gender equality as they can possibly be. My mother and my sister, and every other woman out there, deserve to be treated fairly, especially on the issue of pay equality!
I think an important notion to consider when discussing the gender pay gap in American cinema is the diction we use. Ms. Chastain does a lovely job of correctly stating that actresses deserve equal "compensation." Not money. Not dollars. Not wages. Compensation. This is not about giving already rich people more money because they need it. This is about crediting highly talented artists as equals to their costars. The only difference between these actresses and their costars is in fact their gender, and in order to acknowledge why this is wrong we must stop making the issue about money. This is about creating a world in which executives do not go into shock when a woman speaks up in defense of her credit. This is about respecting female artists for their work just as much as their colleagues. The intent of actresses experiencing this gap is not to gain a few extra dollars - it is to have their voices heard as equal, respectable, talented individuals. Women should not have to dance around the subject for fear they will look like gold diggers. Did Bradley Cooper look greedy walking away with all that cash? Watching how we discuss this issue may be the only way to create a world in which women are not expected to mind unnecessary manners so much.
I think its great that a major hollywood actress like Jenifer Lawrence is stepping up to bring awareness to the rash inequality of the gender pay gap in the film industry. Yes, the issue has been addressed by lots of female actors and practitioners in the film industry, but what is really exciting about Jenifer Lawrence's essay is that its gaining traction amongst other notable actresses like Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chasten. By unifying and standing together as one central voice I think these women of the film industry will be able to gain enough social traction to demand more respect and equal pay from the male dominated film executives. My only hope is that these women don't stop at equal pay for female stars, but work to ensure all women in the film industry, both talent and technical, get equal pay as their male counterparts. Believe it or not at one point a women was the highest paid actor in the entire film industry, Mary Pickford, who maid a killing with her popularity as a silent film star. I don't know how the film industry has gone from a place like that in its early days to the sexist industry it is now, but I think it's about time it progresses forward and changes for the better once and for all.
I read Jennifer Lawrence's article multiple times, and I think that she did a wonderful job at explaining the struggles she has faced. She was smart, and level headed, and she pulled from her own experience, much of which is very similar to most women's experience. I am so happy that she is continuing to talk about this issue, as one of the highest paid actresses in the world, it is brave of her to risk her fame for a cause, even though talking about women right's should risk someones fame in the first place. I think this article brings up another important point in that, what really spears women from men in the performance industry is what is written for them. There just aren't as many leading roles written for men as there are for women and until that changes it is going to be much more difficult to close the wage gap. It is so incredible how an industry like the arts, who's members are all very open and forward thinking, could still be so stuck in the past. I think it's about time that that changed and I'm happy that Jennifer Lawrence is leading the charge.
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