Why does Jennifer Lawrence earn less than male Hollywood stars?
It seems Hollywood has a way to go before achieving equal pay.聽
Jennifer Lawrence topped with combined earnings of $52 million in the last year, thanks largely to the success of the 鈥淗unger Games鈥� franchise and her lucrative contract with French fashion and beauty company Dior. But Ms. Lawrence鈥檚 income falls far short of the that 鈥淚ron Man鈥� star and highest-paid male actor Robert Downey, Jr. made in the same time frame.
The disparity again highlights the huge gap in wages that exists in the entertainment industry 鈥� one that women in the business, from Meryl Streep to Amanda Seyfried, have increasingly called out. And while the issue begins at the top of the food chain with Oscar-winning box-office stars like Lawrence, critics note that the problem trickles down to directors, producers, scriptwriters, and the industry鈥檚 other behind-the-scenes jobs.
鈥淭his Hollywood gender wage gap isn鈥檛 just a first-world problem for the mostly white women who get skillions of dollars thrown at them all day long and tote around free goody bags ,鈥� . 鈥淎s Mollie Hemingway , women lag absurdly far behind men in basically every Tinseltown gig.鈥�
The issue drew major media attention in November, after a breach of Sony Entertainment鈥檚 servers revealed that the more experienced Charlize Theron was to make $10 million less than her co-star Chris Hemsworth in the upcoming film, 鈥淭he Huntsman.鈥� The same leak showed that Lawrence and Amy Adams from 鈥淎merican Hustle鈥� while their male co-stars received 9 percent.
A spreadsheet of salaries of Sony staffers 鈥� also from November鈥檚 trove of hacked documents 鈥� revealed that of the 17 employees who were making $1 million or more, only one is a woman, .
The situation doesn鈥檛 appear to have changed much in the months since. Based on the latest Forbes list, that the 18 best-paid actresses in the world earned is only about $21 million more than the combined income of the top five highest-paid actors. Only four women made north of $20 million, compared to 21 men.
"But it鈥檚 not about how much you get, it鈥檚 about how fair it is," "Ted 2" star Amanda Seyfried . She added that on one of her previous films, she learned that she was making 10 percent of her male co-star's take. "You have to decide if you鈥檙e willing to walk away from something, especially as a woman.鈥�
The trouble, some have said, is in representation.
鈥淩oles for women continue to remain scarce, particularly in an industry where far too often talent remains defined by youthful good looks rather than acting ability,鈥� . 鈥淲ithout greater access to big studio roles, even the most coveted women in entertainment will rarely collect the same type of on-screen paychecks as their male counterparts.鈥�
In 2013鈥檚 100 top-grossing films, men had nearly 71 percent of all speaking roles, , published by the Women鈥檚 Media Center. The same goes for non-acting positions: Women comprised less than 2 percent of directors, about 7 percent of writers, and just under 20 percent of producers.
So what needs to be done?
Former Sony executive Amy Pascal, who left the company in the wake of the data breach, acknowledged in 2013 that Hollywood as an institution has to work harder to close the gap. 鈥淚 think that the whole system is geared for them [women] to fail and we鈥檙e going to have to change a lot of what we do in order for that to happen,鈥� she told Forbes at the time.
Another way of promoting gender equality on a broad scale is to ensure transparency, advocates say. On learning that Mr. Hemsworth was making more than she was in their new film, for instance, Ms. Theron negotiated a substantial raise, .
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very basic check on discrimination,鈥� Ariane Hegewisch, the study director at the Institute for Women鈥檚 Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank, told the Post. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know whether you're paid equally you can鈥檛 enforce your right.鈥�
Still, it's an uphill battle. In February, Ms. Pascal 鈥� in the face of criticism over the Sony pay disparity 鈥� said that women have to fight to get the salaries they deserve.聽鈥淭hey have to walk away鈥� instead of accepting less pay, she said,聽. "I run a business. People want to work for less money, I鈥檒l pay them less money. I don鈥檛 call them up and go, can I give you some more?鈥澛�
