patricia arquette equal rights
Patricia Arquette is mad as hell and she’s not going to take it anymore.
Last year, when Arquette took home the Oscar for Boyhood, instead of thanking her agents and managers, she delivered a ground-breaking message about gender equality.
The speech shined a spotlight on gender wage inequality and ultimately led to the passage of the California Fair Pay Act, which took effect last month.
Bradley Cooper Is Trying To Get His Female Co-stars Equal Pay
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Arquette told The Daily Beast of the game changing monologue;
“I didn’t write that blurb until they were putting on my makeup, but I knew I was going to talk about pay equality and equal rights.”
This year, Arquette is back at it, and this time, she has back up. Major back up. On Thursday Feb. 26 in Los Angeles she co-hosted the first Dinner for Equality, gathering notables from entertainment, politics, and business to rally around the cause.
Among the supporters were Elon Musk, Reese Witherspoon, Stevie Wonder, and Jennifer Lawrence, the biggest female star in Hollywood, who last October penned a letter asking why her male co-stars paychecks were significantly bigger than hers. At Thursday’s event Lawrence described the outpouring of support, but also the avalanche of criticism that followed both publicly and privately. Her Republican relatives even “told me my career was effectively over.”
Emma Watson’s U.N. Speech On Gender Equality Will Leave You Inspired—Watch Now!
Stand Together
Arquette knows her struggle all too well. Her Oscars speech lost her jobs, she told Variety’s David S. Cohen shortly after launching a Change.org petition to push an Equal Rights Amendment through the American legal system;
“I feel really bad for [Lawrence] because she came out and talked about recognizing that she’d been paid less. What we were watching was any young girl discovering that she’d been paid less, discovering that there’s a gender pay gap. It’s not about being an actor, or how many zeroes are behind the number. What it is about is that this is in 98 percent of all businesses.
Standing behind Jennifer Lawrence, while they seem totally unrelated to this big movie star who makes a lot of money, are 33 million women and kids who are seriously suffering because their mom’s not paid her full dollar. To diminish that argument and make it about actresses or wealthy actresses is really a stupid argument because the reality is it’s in all businesses and we need to talk about it.”
Arquette, 47, continues to shine the light on the gross injustice with her powerful new documentary, Equal Means Equal.
Shine A Light On The Injustice
Equal Means Equal exposes shocking statistics and heartbreaking personal stories with interviews, news reports, and narration by Kamala Lopez. Female poverty, poor domestic violence protections for women, increasingly limited reproductive rights, sex trafficking, and female incarceration are all placed under the microscope.
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Arquette said;
“This isn’t a movie to go see, like, ‘Let’s go see a fun movie!’ This is a college crash course [lasting] 90 minutes. It’s a blistering, nightmarish state of the union examination of women in the United States of America. This is not a pretty picture. This is living, breathing, real American history happening right now.”
One artist who details her own brutal rape—and her walk home after the attack, through crowds that didn’t bother to ask if she needed help or if she was even okay.
Arquette can’t help but think of Kesha.“God! When in the history of the world have we seen this before? Where someone could own someone’s work, tell them what to do and when, silence their voice, and rape them at will?”
The Equal Means Equal group’s ultimate goal is to ratify the Equal Rights Act first introduced in 1923, which few Americans realize never actually passed.
“We need this movie to understand what's happening in our country, because this isn’t the story we’re learning in the news, and this isn’t the lesson we’re learning in the classrooms. We need to see what the hell is going on in America.”
patricia arquette equal rights
Women are doing it for themselves! The top feminist icons
Bell Hooks: American author known for her social activism in the areas of oppression, women’s rights and race. In one of her best known works, The Feminist Theory, she declared, “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression”
Angelina Jolie: Actress and humanitarian who has donated millions to causes she believes in. She has given decades of work
as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador....
Betty Friedan: American writer and activist who wrote The Feminine Mystique —often credited for sparking the second wave of feminism in the ’60s and '70s. Friedan spent her life working to establish women’s equality, helping to establish the National Women’s Political Caucus as well as organizing the Women’s Strike For Equality in 1970, which popularized the feminist movement throughout America
Aung San Suu Kyi : Political Prisoner and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma.
Coretta Scott King: The wife of Martin Luther King Jr. also devoted her life to civil rights—and in equal measure, to women’s equality. She helped found NOW (National Organization for Women) in 1966 and played a key role in the organization’s development. She was also notably the first woman to deliver Harvard’s class day address
Lena Dunham: The American across, author, writer, director and screenwriter was the first women to win a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series. She’s an outspoken feminist and speaks eloquently on the subject, “Feminists believe that men and women should have the same opportunities. If you are a feminist you believe in equal rights as a whole. That’s not a concept you can really shoot down.” And, “Feminism doesn’t mean women are going to rise, take over the planet, and like cut off men’s testicles.”
Malala Yousafzai: Received the Nobel Peace prize at age 17 for her ongoing fight for girls' education...
Beyonce Knowles: Multi millionaire recording artist, dancer and actress, says, "I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are?
Why do you have to label yourself anything?"
Elizabeth Ann Warren: American academic and politician, who is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Fervent defender of civil rights and women’s right to chose, vocal backer of Planed Parenthood
Caitlyn Jenner: Shone the spotlight and raised awareness for the every day struggles of transgender people
JK Rowling: Her Harry Potter series had made her a billionaire, and it felt like she was responsible for getting a whole generation of children reading again.
Gloria Steinem: Probably the most famous face of feminism, Steinem is an American journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader and spokeswoman for the feminist movement in the late 1960s and early '70s
Lisa Randall: A theorectical physicist. She is an expert on particle physics and cosmology. Helping in the understanding of many fields of study, she is best known for her contribution of the Randall-Sundrum model.
Ellen Page: The American actress is outspoken when it comes to her views on feminism and gender equality, “Feminism always gets associated with being a radical movement—good. It should be. A lot of what the radical feminists [in the 1970s] were saying, I don't disagree with it," Page once said
Nicki Minaj: Millionaire singer and feminist, says, "I just want women to always feel in control. Because we're capable - we're so capable."
Oprah Winfrey : Oprah is a self-made billonaire and hugely successful business woman, media proprietor, TV show host, producer, actress and philanthropist
Ronda Rousey: The first and current title holder of UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion
Maya Angelou: The American born author worked tirelessly throughout her 86 year life to inspire both women and African Americans to overcome gender and race discrimination
Barbara Walters: The American journalist was the first female co-host of any news show, going on to become the first female co-anchor of an evening news broadcast, paying the way for not only female workers in journalism, but but women in the entire workforce
Caroline Criado-Perez: The Brazilian-born British activist and journalist is an outspoken feminism, actively involved in campaigns for women to gain better representation in the British media and to be depicted on banknotes
Taylor Swift : Love her or loathe her, you've got to give her props for achieving so much at such a young age. She says, "Never believe anyone who tells you that you don’t deserve what you want."
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President, and former United States Secretary of State in the administration
of President Barack Obama
Madonna: Love her or loathe her, Madge has spent her entire career pushing the limits of women and embracing sexuality through her songs and music videos. She’s also a tireless worker, and mom-of-four—writing, singing, dancing, acting, directing and managing a non-profit organization
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Ella Gabriel @iamellagabriel
Happy #WomensDay to the women who are still fighting for the most fundamental human rights. And to all the rest.
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MTV ZA @mtvza
MTV would like to wish all our female followers a very Happy Women's Day! #Womensday
AmnestySouthAfrica @AmnestySARO
#WomensDay In South Africa.
Remembering the sacrifices of the past and fighting for a better future. #womensrights
Appletiser ZA
@AppletiserZA
To all the extraordinary women of SA, we raise a glass to you! Happy Women's Day for Sunday. #WomensDay
patricia arquette equal rights
