Patricia Arquette may have been trying to make a point about equal rights for women during her Oscars speech, but it’s what she said after she accepted her award that really started a firestorm of controversy. Still, she has at least one supporter in Hillary Clinton.
At the end of her speech, the Boyhood Oscar winner ended her speech with a plea for wage equality. “To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights,” Arquette said. “It’s time to have wage equality once and for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”
She was immediately blasted by conservatives on Twitter, but her comments to the press after accepting the award were even more controversial.
“It's inexcusable we go around the world talking about equal rights for women in other countries ... and we don't have equal rights for women in America,” Arquette said, reports USA Today. “The truth is even though we sort of feel like we have equal rights in America, there are huge issues that are at play that really do affect women. It's time for all … the gay people and people of color that we've all fought for to fight for us now.”
When that quote started making the Internet rounds, critics accused Arquette of not including gays and people of color in the group of feminists pushing for equal rights.
On Tuesday, Arquette took to Twitter to directly respond to her critics. She insisted that she did not mean to exclude those groups, but is instead fighting for equal pay for “all women.”
Wage equality will help ALL women of all races in America. It will also help their children and society.
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 23, 2015
I have long been an advocate for the rights of the #LBGT community. The question is why aren't you an advocate for equality for ALL women?
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 23, 2015
If you are fighting against #Equalpay you are fighting for ALL women and especially women of color to make less money than men.
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 23, 2015
Guess which women are the most negatively effected in wage inequality? Women of color. #Equalpay for ALL women. Women stand together in this
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 23, 2015
If you want to RT @TheDemocrats and @GOP We want to see action on #EqualPay and #ERA Women will not wait any more. What are you going to do?
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) February 25, 2015
While Arquette will probably face more questions about her comments during her next interviews, she at least has one supporter. While at a tech conference in Silicon Valley on Tuesday, Clinton voiced her approval for the actress’ comments.
“I think we all cheered at Patricia Arquette’s speech at the Oscars, because she’s right—it’s time to have wage equality,” Clinton said, reports Time.
image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com
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