Scarlett Johansson said she doesn't feel the need to speak about the sexist pay gap because she doesn't think it applies to her. Photo: Getty
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The sexist gender pay gap – not just in Hollywood but all walks of life – is a contentious issue, and one that needs to be openly discussed to highlight the discrimination to help bring about change.
Those in the spotlight are fortunate that their voices are listened to above others and many use that for the good of others – for example, Jennifer Lawrence, Patricia Arquette, Sandra Bullock, but just don't ask Scarlett Johansson as she finds the topic "icky" and "obnoxious".
Jennifer Lawrence has often spoken out about how unfair the pay gap is – particularly after the Oscar winner was paid considerably less than her male counterparts for American Hustle. Photo: Getty Images
The Avengers star, 31, told Cosmopolitan that she feels like she is being paid just as much as her male counterparts, so it's not her issue to discuss, despite there still being a $37 million discrepancy between the highest-paid actress and the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
"There's something icky about me having that conversation unless it applies to a greater whole ... I am very fortunate, I make a really good living, and I'm proud to be an actress who's making as much as many of my male peers at this stage," Johansson said.
"I think every woman has [been underpaid], but unless I'm addressing it as a larger problem, for me to talk about my own personal experience with it feels a little obnoxious. It's part of a larger conversation about feminism in general."
Scarlett Johansson earned $47.2 million in 2015 – $59.3 million less than the highest-paid actor Robert Downey jnr, who took home $106.5 million – and yet she feels discussing the issue is "icky"?
Johansson, who spent Easter in Sydney before flying back to New Zealand where she is filming new movie Ghost in the Shell, came in second in the list of highest-paid actresses in 2015 after Lawrence.
According to Forbes, Johansson earned $47.2 million – $22 million less than Lawrence – and $59.3 million less than Robert Downey jnr who took home $106.5 million – and yet she feels discussing the issue is "icky"?
Sony hack
It was the Sony hack emails that highlighted the disparities in the film industry, particularly in American Hustle. Director David O. Russell and stars Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and Christian Bale all made more than Lawrence and her co-star, Amy Adams.
The company's former co-chairman Amy Pascal said women were to blame as they needed to negotiate better and realise their self-worth.
"People want to work for less money, I'll pay them less money. I don't call them up and say, 'Can I give you some more?' Because that's not what you do when you run a business. The truth is, what women have to do is not work for less money. They have to walk away. People shouldn't be so grateful for jobs. ... People should know what they're worth," she said.
Writing for Lena Dunham's Lenny newsletter, Lawrence did just that: "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 added that she worried how she would come across if she played hardball, believing that a man would be commended for such actions, but she might be looked on as a "spoiled brat".
"If anything, I'm sure [my male co-stars] were commended for being fierce and tactical, while I was busy worrying about coming across as a brat and not getting my fair share."
"Again, this might have NOTHING to do with my vagina, but I wasn't completely wrong when another leaked Sony email revealed a producer referring to a fellow lead actress in a negotiation as a 'spoiled brat'.
"For some reason, I just can't picture someone saying that about a man."
'Gap is real'
To show what it's like in real life, Australian women earn about 83¢ for every $1 a man earns, according to a recent report by recruitment firm Glassdoor, titled Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap.
It said the average base pay was $99,940 a year for men and $84,218 for women. That amounts to a gender pay gap of $15,722 in base pay between men and women.
"The gender pay gap is real," said the report's author and Glassdoor's chief economist Andrew Chamberlain.
Women still have some way to go to match men in the workforce, and offloading the problem onto others will just make it more difficult for women to be treated and paid as equals.
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