When it comes to the subject of feminism, I've remained ever-so-slightly quiet,” writes Jennifer Lawrence in a new essay. "But with a lot of talk comes change, so I want to be honest and open and, fingers crossed, not piss anyone off."
The actress' essay — titled "Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?" — appears in the Oct. 13 edition of Lenny, the feminist newsletter from Lena Dunham and her Girls co-showrunner Jenni Konner. Lawrence opens up about the difference in her pay from that of her American Hustle male co-stars, which was leaked to the public during last year's Sony hack.
"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with dicks, I didn't get mad at Sony. 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 explains.
So why did she give up? "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,'" she confesses. "This is an element of my personality that I've been working against for years, and based on the statistics, I don't think I'm the only woman with this issue. Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? … Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions in a certain way that doesn’t ‘offend’ or ‘scare’ men?”