While she may have kept mostly mum when leaked emails revealed the actress was making less than her Hustler costars, Jennifer Lawrence is speaking out now about the wage gap. In a letter published in Lenny—the feminist email newsletter produced by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner—Lawrence writes she's done playing the nice girl when it comes to getting paid.
"When it comes to the subject of feminism, I've remained ever-so-slightly quiet," the actress admits in the letter, continuing she won't pick up a torch simply because it's trending. Plus, she says, "it's hard for me to speak about my experience as a working woman because I can safely say my problems aren't exactly relatable." So when Lawrence speaks now—taking up the torch for women everywhere who make, on average, just 77 percent of what their male peers bring home—you know it's serious stuff.
Reflecting on those email leaks, Lawrence writes, "I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need."
She continues, "but if I'm honest with myself, I would be lying if I didn't say there was an element of wanting to be liked that influenced my decision to close the deal without a real fight. I didn't want to seem 'difficult' or 'spoiled.' At the time, that seemed like a fine idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn't worry about being 'difficult' or 'spoiled.'"
While this mentality could be a Millennial issue or the result of environmental upbringing, Lawrence says it doesn't matter. "A few weeks ago at work, I spoke my mind and gave my opinion in a clear and no-bullshit way; no aggression, just blunt," she writes. "The man I was working with—actually, he was working for me—said, 'Whoa! We're all on the same team here!' As if I was yelling at him. I was so shocked because nothing that I said was personal, offensive, or, to be honest, wrong. All I hear and see all day are men speaking their opinions, and I give mine in the same exact manner, and you would have thought I had said something offensive."
Now, Lawrence writes, "I'm over trying to find the 'adorable' way to state my opinion and still be likable! F--k that."
She continues, "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. Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale, and Bradley Cooper all fought and succeeded in negotiating powerful deals for themselves. 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."
Lawrence ends her letter by noting yet another email leak—one in which a Sony producer called Angelina Jolie a "spoiled brat" for negotiating roles on her upcoming film, Cleopatra. "For some reason," Lawrence writes, "I just can't picture someone saying that about a man."