We loved Jennifer Lawrence’s essay in Lenny Letter about the gender pay gap in Hollywood, but of course there has to be somebody who tries to put her down. When Kimberly Ross of RedState.com called Lawrence’s piece “a bratty display from a wealthy youngster,” the 25-year-old Oscar winner had the perfect response.
“Even after I wrote it, I don’t remember the website, but they called it ‘Jennifer Lawrence’s bratty display,’ and I was like, ‘Thank you for completely making my point,’” she said at a recent press conference promoting the release of Mockingjay Part 2. “If a woman speaks up, is assertive and has a voice, she’s going to be called ‘a brat.’ I don’t see a man being called ‘a brat.’”
Ms. Ross, we think your take on Jennifer Lawrence’s piece is all wrong. That she makes tens of millions of dollars each year—which she acknowledged in the essay by saying “I didn’t want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don’t need”—is not the point. The point is that, however much Hollywood deems her to be worth, it’s less than what they feel her male counterparts deserve. And when you try to silence the voice of someone like her, you not only prove her point, but you keep adding fuel to the fire.