On Sunday night, Patricia Arquette won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in "Boyhood." (Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2015)
She used her acceptance speech to make a powerful plea for women’s rights.
"To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody's equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America." (Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2015)
As you probably noticed, Arquette's speech had a very strong show of support from Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez. And rightfully so. (Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2015)
According to data collected by the New York Film Academy, the top 10 highest-paid actors of 2013 made a total of $465 million, while the top 10 highest-paid actresses made $181 million.
And that same sentiment applies outside of Hollywood, too. The Institute for Women's Policy Research found, in 2013, female full-time workers made only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man.
So it's really no surprise that Arquette's plea for equality caught the attention of more than 100,000 people on social media just one hour after she gave her speech.
As a writer for Vox so perfectly put it, "Behind that enthusiasm are decades of frustration with a system that has paid women less for decades of brilliant work."
In other words, to echo Meryl Streep, "YES, YES, YES!" (Clip Courtesy A.M.P.A.S.© 2015)
This video includes images from Getty Images.
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