Rooney Mara just weighed in on the Hollywood pay gap
Hollywood has been ablaze with celebs weighing in on gender inequality and unfair pay gaps in the industry for a while now. Just this past week, Jennifer Lawrence penned an essay on the wage gap in Lena Dunham’s feminist newsletter, Lenny. She expressed the difficulty she felt in speaking up because her situation isn’t quite relatable to the average person (she’s negotiating for more millions, after all), but after learning how much less she was making than her male counterparts, she got angry. Lawrence’s American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook co-star, Bradley Cooper, recently announced that he’s taking a step to fight sexism in the industry by sharing his salary with his female co-stars to help them with their negotiations. We’re all in this together!
Add a new celeb to the growing list of people speaking out about the wage gap: Rooney Mara (who you know from hits like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network). In an interview with Guardian, Mara expressed her personal feelings about the gender pay inequality.
Similarly to Lawrence, Mara expressed the difficulty in talking about an unrelatable issue and the frustration of being deemed a “spoiled brat.”
No matter what your stance is on gender pay inequality, the conversation is a healthy and important one to be having. And if you think the recent round of celebs speaking out sound spoiled, here’s the thing: It’s not about the money. It’s about principle, and changing the mentality of the industry to create a positive and fair work environment for future generations.
High paid actors being open about sexism and pay inequality isn’t just to benefit the super wealthy — the conversation affects every woman in the world because it gives power and weight to an issue that’s become accepted as normal. More power to these bold women (and men) who have the courage to speak up for an entire generation!
(Image via Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com)
