Jennifer Lawrence Is 'Over' Trying to Be 'Adorable' and 'Likable' When it Comes to Hollywood's Gender-Based Wage Gap

Although she has generally steered clear of any conversations regarding feminism, Jennifer Lawrence has broken her silence to write an essay about equal pay and how women are perceived when they lead or negotiate. While she acknowledges that her “problems aren’t exactly relatable” in terms of scope, her thoughts and experiences on the subject of women in the workplace are absolutely something the majority of us have gone through.

After the Sony hack happened, a lot of actresses discovered how much less they were being paid than their male counterparts. Lawrence was one of them, and she says her reaction was to get mad at herself. “I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early.” In reality, she goes on to say, one of the deterrents she faced when it came to arguing for a bigger salary was the idea of coming across as a “spoiled brat… For some reason, I just can’t picture someone saying that about a man.”

The whole letter is thoughtful and passionate, with the actress’s trademark humor sprinkled throughout. “We’ve only been able to vote for what, 90 years? I’m seriously asking — my phone is on the counter and I’m on the couch, so a calculator is obviously out of the question," Lawrence wittily writes. But then she takes a turn toward the tougher questions that many women don't actually put out into the world. 

"Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn’t 'offend' or 'scare' men?" she ponders. 

Lawrence ends the piece in no uncertain terms: 

"I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion and still be likable! Fuck that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard." 

Read Lawrence's entire piece on Lenny. 

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