My Favorite 2015 Oscars Moment

I, like many, watched the Oscars on Sunday February 22.  It was, as always, a star struck evening with many ups and downs.  The jokes were flowing (some were funny, some were not).  Julianne Moore won the Best Actress Oscar, Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor, and Birdman for Best Picture.

One of the greatest highlights of the evening however, was Patricia Arquette's speech when she won for Best Supporting Actress.  It is always shocking yet refreshing when a celebrity uses their spotlight to talk about social issues they firmly believe in.  For those of you who do not know or do not remember her speech, I encourage you to watch it again via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-EmDy3w1X8 

Once you get past all of her thank yous.  She gets into an issue that I am personally passionate about. She talks about equality for women.  "To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights.  It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America."  Equality is something that EVERYONE deserves.  It has been almost 95 years since the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.  Still, 95 years later we are fighting for our equality.

Women may have the right to vote and in 2010 we made up 47% of the workforce (http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/Qf-laborforce-10.htm), but we are still generally making less than men.  In fact in 2013, women who worked year round, full time jobs, were paid 78% of what men were paid (http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/).  There is no doubt in my mind that women will, if they don't already, make up at least half of the labor force in the United States in the coming years.  If the labor force is split up 50 50 in the United States, wages should also be equal.

Patricia Arquette received a lot of praise from women all around the world for her Oscar speech, and even received quite the ovation from the Queen of Hollywood herself, Ms. Meryl Streep.  I think it was very brave of Patricia Arquette to use such a huge night where she knew millions of people would be watching to speak on such a controversial issue.  Especially since it seems every woman in Hollywood who speaks out on a "feminist" issue is criticized by men.  For example, when Emma Watson made her brave speech in front of members of the United Nations, she was threatened by hackers.  They called her names and threatened to expose nude photos of her.

It's disgusting to me the kinds of things that will come out of people's mouths when a woman stands up for herself, her beliefs, and for other women.

I say bravo to Patricia Arquette and many other celebrity women who have spoken about equality for women.  These are the kinds of role models in Hollywood young girls need and can look up to. Strong, beautiful on the inside, women who stand up for what is right and for what they believe.