34 Quotes on Equal Pay From Inspiring Women
1. “When I joined four teammates in filing a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer late last month, it had nothing to do with how much I love to play for my country. It had everything to do with what’s right and what’s fair and with upholding a fundamental American concept: Equal pay for equal play.” - Carli Lloyd, in a New York Times article from March 2016
2. “There are very few films or TV shows where the male, the patriarch, and the matriarch are equal. And they are in House of Cards. ... I was looking at the statistics and Claire Underwood’s character was more popular than [Frank’s] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it. I was like, ‘You better pay me or I’m going to go public.’ And they did.” - Robin Wright, at an event for the Rockefeller Foundation in May 2016
3. “It is a rare moment for women to be the highest paid in any level film. There have been a few occasions that I’ve been the highest earner on a film. Seriously, I called my mother and we danced around the room. More often than not, it’s women who give up their salary or their points or make a compromise on small films.” - Patricia Clarkson, in a Vanity Fair article from November 2015
4. “In the past few months, I’ve become convinced of one thing: If I were a man, I’d be paid more. I realize that some people may not sympathize with an actress who gets to be in movies and on TV for a living. But if you take away names and vocations, the fact is that in 2015 a man is still getting paid more money to do the same job a woman does, in Hollywood and everywhere else. And no matter where you live or what you do, that’s bullsh-t.” - Judy Greer, in a Glamour article from May 2015
5. "But the truth is, we still have so much more to do. Take the fact that women around the world still don’t have equal pay, or that nine countries around the world don’t provide for paid maternity leave. When you look at the facts, you have to ask yourself: Where do we really stand when it comes to gender equality? The answer is: We’re just not there yet.” - America Ferrera, in an email to supporters of the Clinton Foundation in March 2015
6. "I want to be paid fairly for the work that I’m doing. That’s what every single woman around the world wants. We want to be paid on parity with a man in a similar position." - Felicity Jones, in the November 2016 issue of Glamour
7. "We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn't a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change." - Beyoncé, in The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink
8. "It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America." - Patricia Arquette, at the 2015 Academy Awards
9. "Imagine you're a little girl. You're growing up. You practice as hard as you can, with girls, with boys. You have a dream. You fight, you work, you sacrifice to get to this stage. You work as hard as anyone you know. And then you get to this stage, and you're told you're not the same as a boy. Almost as good, but not quite the same. Think how devastating and demoralizing that could be." - Venus Williams, at a July 2005 Grand Slam Committee meeting
10. "When a politician is against equal pay for women and/or ENDA, I think it begs the question, should they be a politician?" - Ellen Page, in a tweet from 2014
11. "When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with dicks, I didn't get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need." - Jennifer Lawrence, in a Lenny Letter article from October 2015
12."Women don't get equal pay, there are not as many women in government positions or business positions. It's just not equal. And until there is equality, you're going to feel that, in any industry. But I was like, girls should have an equal seat at the table. Take Jennifer Lawrence. I mean, she's opening films - she's the box-office draw just as much as any guy, if not more. She should be compensated for that." - Jessica Alba, in the April 2016 issue of Cosmopolitan UK
13. "The reality is that if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work." - Emma Watson, at an event for the HeForShe Campaign in 2014
14. "There's no excuse. There's no reason why [Jennifer Lawrence] should be doing a film with other actors and get paid less than her male co-stars. It's completely unfair. It's not right. It's been happening for years and years and years. I think it's brave to talk about it. I think everyone should talk about it." - Jessica Chastain, at the red carpet premiere of Crimson Peak, in reaction to Jennifer Lawrence's Lenny Letter piece
15. "If fighting for equal pay and paid family leave is playing the gender card, then deal me in!" - Hillary Clinton, in Harlem at the Apollo Theater in March 2016
16. "It was a play with just two of us onstage and I was offered less than half of what he was going to be paid. If it was two men, it wouldn't probably happen. Sad, but I walked away … The only way is to make a stand. We are going to have to make sacrifices to make change. I want to turn up and feel dignified." - Sienna Miller, in the October 2015 issue of Vogue UK
17. "When I started teaching elementary school after college, the public school district didn't hide the fact that it had two pay scales: one for men and one for women. Women have made incredible strides since then. But 40 years later, we're still debating equal pay for equal work." - Elizabeth Warren, in an op-ed for ABC News in 2014
18. "It's indisputable that there's a real pay gap. People can argue about how big, but that's almost besides the point. The point is that every woman, every girl, deserves to get paid what they're worth." - Sheryl Sandberg, in an interview with HuffPost Live in 2014
19. "It can be frustrating. It can be painful. Your salary is a way to quantify what you're worth. If men are being paid a lot more for doing the same thing, it feels shitty." - Gwyneth Paltrow, in a 2015 Variety article
20. "A few years ago, on one of my big-budget films, I found I was being paid 10 percent of what my male co-star was getting, and we were pretty even in status. I think people think because I'm easygoing and game to do things, I'll just take as little as they offer. But it's not about how much you get, it's about how fair it is." - Amanda Seyfried, in a 2015 interview with the Sunday Times
21. "If it was just women getting paid less than men then that would just be one thing, but even among women, especially according to race and privilege, there are a lot of women who are getting paid more than even some men are. It's a very complex situation when you think about what are black women making in comparison to white women, what are Latin women making, what are Asian women making in comparison, and it gets even more convoluted." - Rosario Dawson,in a 2015 interview with MTV News
22. "Without women's groups knocking on doors, I wouldn't have gotten where I am. We need women to support each other. We still don't have equal pay." - Sonia Sotomayor, at an event organized by Watermark in 2013
23. "We sought justice because equal pay for equal work is an American value. That fight took me 10 years. It took me all the way to the Supreme Court. And, in a 5–4 decision, they stood on the side of those who shortchanged my pay, my overtime, and my retirement just because I am a woman." - Lilly Ledbetter, to the Democratic National Convention in 2012
24. "When you subtract my living [expenses], I'm not living - I'm existing, I have an 88-year-old mother. Economically, there's nothing I can do for my mom to make her life more golden in her golden years, because I have no resources to do that." - Betty Dukes, to the Huffington Post in 2012 about her lawsuit with Walmart
25. "This issue of parity is not a women's issue. It's a societal issue that needs to be resolved by men and women." - Stacey Allaster, in a 2014 interview with the Washington Post
26. "In this day and age, it's about equality. It's about equal rights. It's about equal pay. We're pushing for that. We believe now the time is right because we believe it's our responsibility for women's sports and specifically for women's soccer to do whatever it takes to push for equal pay and equal rights. And to be treated with respect." - Hope Solo, on the Today show in 2016, about the wage discrimination action taken against the U.S. Soccer Federation
27. "In sixth grade, we all had to write this opinion paper. Most wrote about things like why we should be able to chew gum in class - I wrote about why women should receive equal pay." - Gillian Jacobs, in a 2013 interview withMother Jones
28. "If you were to really look at it, the boys are still getting more money for a lot of garbage, while the ladies are hustling and doing amazing work for less." - Tina Fey, to Town and Country in March 2016
29. "In our view, the court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination." - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking for the dissenting justices in Ledbetter v. Goodyear
30. "Equal pay for comparable work for women would be the greatest economic stimulus this county could ever have." - Gloria Steinem in a speech to Haverford College in 2012
31. "This is a good time for us to bring this to a place of fairness, and girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing. It doesn't mean that you hate men. It means equal rights. If you're doing the same job, you should be compensated and treated in the same way." - Charlize Theron, in the June 2015 issue of Elle UK
32. "If you have the same capacities and you are doing the same job, it is criminal not to [be paid] the same salary." - Salma Hayek at Variety's Power of Women luncheon in 2015
33. "Especially in this climate of women talking about the reality of [unequal pay] in this business, I think it's important that it gets heard and voiced. It was shocking to me, given all the work that I had done in the past to get us to be paid fairly. I worked really hard toward that and finally got somewhere with it." –Gillian Anderson in an interview with The Daily Beast, expressing her surprise that more interviewers don't ask her about the fact that she was offered half what her X-Files co-star David Ducovny was offered
34. "What are you telling your daughter when she grows up? 'You've got to just understand that you're a girl. You have a vagina. So that's not as valuable.'" - Viola Davis, in a 2016 interview with Mashable
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