After #MeToo Tsunami, 3,000 Insiders Sign Hollywood Equal Pay Petition
For a bastion of the far-left, Hollywood sure seems prone to scandal and unfair practices.
Now, I’m not saying they’re all a bunch of hypocrites, but if it looks like a duck …
The biggest scandal to rock Hollywood in quite some time has easily been the #MeToo movement, sparked by the sexual abuse allegations levied against major producer Harvey Weinstein.
That, in turn, has cast a light on all sorts of other Hollywood scandals. From former “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn’s horrific pedophile jokes to #MeToo supporter Asia Argento’s own alleged sexual transgressions, Hollywood’s had no shortage of controversies in recent months.
The latest controversy? The reported pay disparity between men and women across Hollywood. The issue extends beyond just big name actors and actresses, and includes even behind-the-scene workers like camera operators and boom-stick holders.
According to the Wrap, thousands of prominent Hollywood denizens have signed a petition for men and women to be paid the same across the industry.
Some of people who have signed the petition include Charlie Day, Don Cheadle, John C. Riley, Sterling K. Brown, Ava DuVernay, Mandy Moore and Jane Fonda.
“In the current age of #MeToo and the launching of Times Up we have seen that some production companies have moved to correct gender-based wage inequality for actors working on the same projects, but there has not been any similar effort made to address wage gaps for those working behind the scenes. … It is time for real change,” the letter spearheading the petition reads.
The sudden movement seemed to be spurred by entertainment union IATSE. The union hired Working IDEAL to study the gender wage gap, which found that women typically earn less than men in four female-dominated Hollywood occupations. Those jobs include script supervisors, production coordinators, assistant production coordinators and art department coordinators.
One of the conclusions reached by the Working IDEAL study is that there is “a long history of gender segregation and stereotyping — and a current culture of gender bias and sexual harassment in film and television production — (which) affects the work opportunities available to members of these female-dominated crafts and how the industry values their contributions.”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting people to make more money. America was built on the foundations of capitalism, and more people making more money benefits everyone because it benefits the economy.
But another tantamount tenet of American capitalism is merit-based pay. It’s the same exact reason that fast food workers demanding $15 an hour is such a laughable notion.
Nobody, regardless of age, gender or race, should be entitled to a certain level of pay just because. Pay should always be based on merits. Always.
To suggest otherwise does far more harm to the allegedly aggrieved than good. What type of values does it instill in someone if they’re paid the same exact amount as someone who has toiled away with blood, sweat and tears just because of happenstance?
Now, to clarify, if a man and woman have the same experience and same level of talent, then yes, they should be paid the same. That’s a no-brainer.
But if the only similarity between the two is that they work in the same field, that should unequivocally not be a qualification for equal pay.
At the rate Hollywood seems to be imploding and eating itself, there may not even be an industry with a pay gap to grouse over soon.
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