RECENTLY, JENNIFER LAWRENCE PENNED AN ESSAY TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE
SEXISM THAT SHE HAS EXPERIENCED IN THE ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY.
THIS IS A RESPONSE TO THE SONY EMAIL HACK THAT
HAPPENED LAST YEAR, AND SHE WANTED TO MAKE THE CASE THAT A
LOT OF WOMEN IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY DON'T
NECESSARILY GET PAID THE SAME AS THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS, AND IT
MAY NOT HAVE TO DO WITH SEXISM,
IT MAY HAVE TO DO WITH HOW WOMEN NEGOTIATE THEIR PAY FOR THESE
PARTS.
YOU CAN FIND THESE ON LENA DUNHAM'S BLOG, LENNY,
WHICH TALKS ABOUT SEXISM AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
JENNIFER LAWRENCE WRITES,
"WHEN THE SONY EMAIL HACK HAPPENED AND I FOUND OUT HOW
MUCH LESS I WAS GETTING PAID
THAN MY MALE COSTARS, I DIDN'T GET MAD AT SONY, I GOT MAD AT
MYSELF.
I FAILED AS A NEGOTIATOR BECAUSE I GAVE UP
EARLY.
I DID NOT WANT TO KEEP FIGHTING OVER MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS THAT, FRANKLY, DUE TO TWO MOVIE FRANCHISES, I DID NOT
NEED."
CHERYL SANDBERG GOT A LOT OF HEAT FOR THIS WHEN SHE
MENTIONED IT IN HER BOOK, WOMEN
FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE NEGOTIATING THEIR SALARIES, AND TALKING
ABOUT MONEY.
I KNOW IT FROM FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE.
YOU
DON'T WANT TO SEEM TOO AGGRESSIVE OR UNLIKABLE, OR
SOMEONE WHO IS BEING A BRAT OR BEING GREEDY.
MEN TEND TO BE
MUCH BETTER AT NEGOTIATING THEIR SALARIES BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN
TOLD THAT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO MORE MONEY.
WOMEN HAVE BEEN
TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN, YOU NEED TO BE LIKABLE.
SO DON'T BE TOO AGGRESSIVE.
I ONLY HALF AGREE WITH THAT.
I FEAR THAT IT
OVERGENERALIZE.
I HAVE
BEEN ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS, AND YES, SOMETIMES MEN ARE MORE
ASSERTIVE.
NOBODY EVER THINKS, OH WHAT A BITCH.
THEY THINK HE IS A STRONG.
WHAT A STRONG MAN.
RIGHT, SO I GET THAT.
AT THE SAME TIME, THERE'S A LOT OF GUYS
WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT ASKING FOR
MORE MONEY.
I WOULD SAY MORE OFTEN THAT IS THE CASE THEN A GUY COMES
IN AND IS LIKE, I WANT MORE MONEY.
BECAUSE WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS, WE ARE LIKE, IS THAT TOO RUDE?
IS THAT TOO MUCH?
I DON'T KNOW, WHENEVER I HAVE BEEN ON THAT END OF THE
EQUATION, WHEN I AM ASKING FOR MONEY, I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE,
AM I ASKING FOR TOO MUCH?
IT'S THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE THING.
I DON'T THINK THAT
JENNIFER LAWRENCE IS SAYING THAT MEN ARE OVERALL BETTER
NEGOTIATORS, I JUST THINK THAT MEN TEND TO BE MORE COMFORTABLE
BEING ASSERTIVE; WHEREAS, WOMEN HAVE BEEN OPENLY CRITICIZED FOR
BEING TOO ASSERTIVE.
I REMEMBER GETTING HIRED AS A FREELANCER TO
CONTRIBUTE FOR ANOTHER NETWORK, AND THEY ASKED ME WHAT I EXPECTED
TO GET PAID PER SEGMENT.
I ASKED STEVE OH WHAT I SHOULD GET PAID, AND I WAS THINKING ABOUT ASKING FOR
SOMETHING RIDICULOUSLY LOW, AND I REMEMBER THINKING THIS IS
BALLSY.
I AM ASKING FOR A LOT
OF MONEY.
STEVE WAS LIKE YOU NEED TO ASK FOR THREE TIMES THAT
AMOUNT.
I WAS LIKE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO HIRE ME.
WHEN ASKED
FOR THAT AMOUNT ñ FIRST OF ALL I GAVE THEM A LOW NUMBER AND A
HIGH NUMBER AND WAS LIKE, YOU
GUYS DECIDE.
I AM THE WORST NEGOTIATOR.
THAT'S THE MOST CLEAR MISTAKE OF ALL TIME.
I WAS LIKE, IF I GIVE THEM TWO OPTIONS, I WON'T HAVE TO
WORRY ABOUT THEM NOT HIRING ME.
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT GO
THROUGH YOUR MIND.
YOU ARE TOLD THAT BEING ASSERTIVE IS GOING TO
BE A BAD THING AND YOU WILL BE
LOOKED AT AS A BITCH.
YOU ARE TILTING THE SCALES AGAINST WOMEN BECAUSE OF SOME OF
THE PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS THAT WE HAVE PUT IN PEOPLE'S HEADS WITH
WOMEN AND MEN, BUT I AM TELLING YOU, OVERWHELMINGLY MY
EXPERIENCE IS THAT ASSERTIVE PEOPLE ARE UNCOMMON.
THE MUCH
MORE COMMON THING FOR MEN AND
WOMEN IS TO WORRY ABOUT SEEMING LIKE YOU ARE ASKING FOR TOO
MUCH.
AND CONTEXT MATTERS.
IF YOU ARE FROM THE IVY LEAGUE
SCHOOLS, IN MY EXPERIENCE, THEY
COME IN ASKING FOR EVERYTHING BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKE, WHAT YOU
MEAN?
I AM GOD'S GIFT TO HUMANITY.
I ASKED FOR THIS, OF
COURSE I SHOULD GET IT.
BUT IF THE GUY WHO IS DOING MUCH BETTER
AND IS NOT FROM A GREAT SCHOOL,
CAN I GET THIS?
RIGHT?
IT IS NOT JUST A MAN AND WOMAN THING.
AND A LOT OF THE TIME PEOPLE COME IN AND ASK FOR TOTALLY
UNREASONABLE THINGS.
DO THEY?
DO PEOPLE COME IN AND PUT THEIR BALLS ON THE TABLE AND ARE
LIKE, HERE ARE MY BALLS?
I'M UNINTERESTED IN THEIR BALLS.
IT HAPPENS, PEOPLE ASK
FOR TOO MUCH, I'VE ASKED FOR TOO MUCH, AND THEN YOU SAY IT IS NOT
REASONABLE, FUCK OFF.
SO THERE IS SOMETHING LEGITIMATE TO WORRY
ABOUT, RIGHT?
IT IS A HUMAN THING MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BUT YOU ARE
RIGHT, IT LEANS A LITTLE BIT MORE ñ ñ
IN FACT, IT IS NOT A DISADVANTAGE FOR WOMEN AS
MUCH AS IT IS A SLIGHT ADVANTAGE FOR MEN, BECAUSE SOME OF
THEM ARE TOLD THAT IT IS OKAY TO BE ASSERTIVE.
YES, FAIR ENOUGH.
I WANT TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR ABOUT ONE
THING, BECAUSE CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT IN THIS STORY.
THAT
SONY HACK INDICATED THAT SHE WAS
GETTING PAID LESS IN A MOVIE ñ
AMERICAN HUSTLE ñ
YES, SHE WAS GETTING PAID LESS THAN HER MALE COSTARS
IN A MOVIE, BUT TO BE COMPLETELY FAIR TO SONY, HER EMPLOYERS,
IN THAT CASE, HER ROLE WASN'T AS BIG AS HER MALE COSTARS.
SHE WAS ALREADY GETTING PAID MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, IT'S
NOT LIKE THEY WERE PAYING HER $50,000
AND HER COSTARS WERE MAKING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
THE ROLE WASN'T THAT BIG.
I'M BEING FAIR.
FUNNILY ENOUGH, I AM GOING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT SHE WAS
WORRIED ABOUT IN THE FIRST PLACE, I THINK SHE IS OVER
COMPLAINING A LITTLE BIT.
NOT BECAUSE SHE MAKES MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS.
I GET WHY SHE THINKS THAT LOOKS BAD, BUT YOU CAN'T
COMPLAIN, YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND WHAT THE MARKET IS.
ALEX
RODRIGUEZ DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT BEING PAID TOO MUCH MONEY.
IT'S RIDICULOUS, BUT HE STILL GETS IT.
BUT HER ROLE WAS MUCH SMALLER THAN HER MALE COLLEAGUES IN
THAT PARTICULAR MOVIE.
I SAW THE MOVIE, THEIR ROLES WERE LARGER.
IF THE MOVIE WAS SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, AND
BRADLEY COOPER WAS MAKING WAY MORE MONEY THAN SHE WAS,
THEN WE ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION, BECAUSE HER
ROLE WAS JUST AS IMPORTANT IN THAT MOVIE.
EVEN SO, HE HAD THE THEORETICALLY MORE
CHALLENGING ROLE.
I MEAN, WHATEVER.
I DISAGREE WITH THAT.
BECAUSE HE HAD A DISABILITY AND STUFF.
SO DID SHE.
HIS WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE MENTAL.
ANYWAY, OKAY, OKAY.
ANYWAY, OVERALL I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
AND FINALLY, THERE IS
ANOTHER PART WHERE I DISAGREE
WITH WHAT SHE SAID.
SHE SAID THAT WHEN SHE WAS HAVING A
DISCUSSION WITH A MALE COLLEAGUE, SHE SAID SOMETHING
POLITE BUT NOT OVER THE TOP AND SUPER OFFENSIVE AND THE GUY TOOK
OFFENSE FROM IT.
SHE INTERPRETED IT AS, IF A GUY SAID THAT NOBODY WOULD THINK TWICE
ABOUT IT, WHEN I SAID IT, IT WAS, WHY ARE YOU BEING SO AGGRESSIVE?
SHE SAID I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER WORKED WITH A GUY WHO SPENT TIME
WORRYING ABOUT WHAT ANGLE TO USE WITH HIS TONE OF VOICE.
SHE HAS NEVER MET TOM HANK WHO USED TO WORK AT TYT,
HE THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT HOW HE WOULD COME OFF.
THAT IS PART OF MY POINT.
A LOT OF GUYS THINK, IN WORK SITUATIONS, WHAT IS THE
APPROPRIATE WAY TO SAY THIS?
SOME PEOPLE DON'T THINK ABOUT THE APPROPRIATE WAY TO SAY
THINGS, AND THEY OFTEN MAKE A MISTAKE.
I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT AND WRONG.
I THINK THAT THE WAY A WOMAN COMES OFF HURTS HER WAY
MORE THAN IT HURTS A MAN.
I DON'T THINK SO.
LET'S THINK ABOUT IT ON A MACRO SCALE WITH THE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
THINK
ABOUT THE 2008 ELECTION, WITH THE WAY HILLARY CLINTON WAS
PERCEIVED AS COMPARED TO ANY MALE CANDIDATE.
IT IS THE WAY THAT A
WOMAN COMES OFF IF SHE HAPPENS TO ACT THE SAME WAY THAT A MAN
ACTS.
ON THIS VERY SHOW, GO TO ANY VIDEO WHERE A CENK AND I
DISAGREE ON SOMETHING.
CENK IS
PASSIONATE.
IF I GET HEATED ABOUT SOMETHING, I AM EMOTIONAL.
THOSE WORDS MATTER, THOSE PERCEPTIONS MATTER.
THERE IS DEFINITELY A DIFFERENCE.
ANA, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU ARE GETTING SO EMOTIONAL.
IF YOU COULD
JUST BRING DOWN THE SHRILLNESS FOR A SECOND.