As we all know by now, feminism and sexism have been taking center stage in conversations surrounding Hollywood, with everything from workplace harassment and assault to the gender wage gap. Of course, it’s important to remember intersectionality in these conversations — as Octavia Spencer did at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
In a panel, Spencer said she had been talking with her friend and co-star Jessica Chastain about the issue of equal pay for men and women, while working on a new comedy movie together. She described them “dropping F-bombs” and being generally angry at the inequality, when Spencer brought up the difference in struggle for women of color.
“Women of color on that spectrum, we make far less than white women,” she recalled telling Chastain. “So if we’re gonna have that conversation about pay equity, we gotta bring the women of color to the table.”
I am glad to see Spencer pointing this out, because she’s totally right: black and Hispanic women make even less than the 77 cents that white women make to the dollar that a man earns.
“She had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of color,” Spencer added. But while this racism might be uncomfortable for some white women to discuss, Chastain took the opportunity to produce real change. “She said, ‘Octavia, we’re gonna get you paid.’”
Hearing the determination in those words — coupled with seeing Spencer tear up at this point in the story — would make anyone get emotional (myself included!). And so would the happy ending of this story: Spencer revealed, “Fast-forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for.”
It is so great to see women in solidarity with one another, especially in such a public and influential industry. Here’s hoping we’ll be blessed with more female empowerment in 2018!