Patricia Arquette took the Oscar stage by storm last Sunday.
Our favorite Kissin’ Kate Barlow from Holes did more than just thank her loved ones at the Academy Awards.
After winning her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Boyhood, Arquette used her thank-you speech as a golden opportunity to raise awareness about an important social issue – wage inequality.
“ …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,” said Arquette.
Her words were heard by everyone in attendance and by the 37.3 million viewers watching at home.
Meryl Streep and J.Lo even gave her a standing ovation!
For those of you who don’t know, there was a study in 2013 which showed that female workers earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. This means there is a gender wage gap of about 22%…which is crazy!
Patricia Arquette brought attention to an issue that people have been debating about for a long time now.
It’s so incredibly important that people all over the world are using every forum they can to speak up about inequality. It seems that celebrities and politicians are using entertainment to do just that. Obama even used the Grammys to make an announcement about ending violence against women and girls!
So basically, go feminism!