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Jennifer Lawrence keeps it real about about gender pay inequality

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Tatum Pederson
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Elon chapter.

On Tuesday, Jennifer Lawrence spoke out against gender pay inequality on lennyletter.com and described how she felt when she heard the news that she was being paid less than her male colleagues on the film “American Hustle.” Leaked documents were exposed when the Sony Pictures was hacked back in 2014. 

Photo accessed from: flikeringmyth.com

Lenny Letter is a newsletter run by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. The newsletter has only been up for a few weeks but has gained a ton of praise and also covers major societal issues, such as, feminism, sexuality and sexism.

“When the Sony hack happened, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself,” explained Jennifer in her essay. “I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early “Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves,” she wrote of her co-stars. “If anything, I’m sure they were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share.”

According to nytimes.com, “Women in the United States make 78 cents for every dollar a man makes. The ratio of women’s to men’s median weekly full-time earnings is 82.5 percent.” 

Photo accessed from: lennyletter.com

Jennifer Lawrence opened her essay by explaining that she hates the idea of trends but felt like this issue really needed to be addressed. Her raw emotions and voice shined throughout her entire essay and gained praise on social media.

“I’m over trying to find the “adorable” way to state my opinion and still be likable!,” said Jennifer in her Lenny Letter essay. “F**** 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.”

Jennifer’s co-stars had a chance to respond to her newsletter and many of her friends had nothing but nice things to say. 

“One thing I could say is that’s interesting because if you think that you only deserve a certain amount and that’s not correct, it’s about changing that mindset and sticking up for yourself the way that Sienna [Miller] did,” Bradley Cooper explained to E! News. “So that’s a great thing.” 

Bravo, Jennifer! Keep fighting for your rights. Women’s rights are human’s rights and we support that notion- always. 

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar
My name is Tatum Pederson and I am a senior at Elon University majoring in Journalism and minoring in Digital Art. I am currently Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus Elon and I am an Entertainment Editor for Elon University’s magazine, The Edge. This summer, I was an Entertainment Intern at Niche Media in New York City. I learned how to transcribe interviews, assist at photo shoots, and conduct research on various entertainment topics. Last year, I was an Art and Editorial Intern at ELLE Decor magazine. At this internship, I worked closely with the Editor-in-Chief, Michael Boodro. I edited a “Behind The Scenes” video for the September 2014 Online Shopping section and was also published in the October 2014 issue. Two summers ago, I was an Entertainment Intern for Pink and Black magazine. I researched and wrote numerous articles involving media and entertainment. I am an extremely organized and creative student with experience in both a fast-paced environment and the magazine industry.