Though her speech calling for wage equality at the Academy Awards won raves, Patricia Arquette quickly lost some of that goodwill backstage when she expanded on that statement.
During her press conference backstage, Arquette, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Boyhood, explained what she meant by her statements:
“So the truth is, even though we sort of feel like we have equal rights in America, right under the surface, there are huge issues that are applied that really do affect women. And it’s time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people, and all the people of color that we’ve all fought for to fight for us now.”
By seemingly excluding everyone outside of white women in the fight for wage equality, Arquette inflamed the intersectionality crowd on Twitter, who pointed out that women can be gays and minorities too:
Oh, good morning, #PatriciaArquette. Intersectionality means the very obvious of WOMEN ARE SOMETIMES ALSO PPL OF COLOR AND QUEER. ugh.
— Sally J. Johnson (@sallyjayjohnson) February 23, 2015
patricia's comments show the danger in not being hip to this whole intersectionality thing. women of color get erased.
— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) February 23, 2015
put down your #BlackLivesMatter signs everyone, its time to fight for equal pay. just dodge the bullets in the meantime
— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) February 23, 2015
to act like other groups owe you for the time you spent swooping in on your white horse. mkay girl.
— Tracy Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) February 23, 2015
Patricia Arquette sure ruined her nice moment. Fighting against one injustice does not excuse blindness to others. pic.twitter.com/lhlcyk6p7m
— Wende (@webbspinner77) February 23, 2015
For a visual representation of what Arquette implied, here’s this Game of Thrones reference:
Live footage of Patricia Arquette asking gays & people of color to help her get better pay. pic.twitter.com/oDcIyqbknM
— BlackBroDude (@CraigSJ) February 23, 2015
Watch below via Popsugar:
UPDATE (4:06 p.m.): Arquette took to Twitter to clarify:
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
Women have been basically paying a gender tax for generations.
— 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
It’s possible that she wasn’t thinking clearly, given that she had just won an Oscar for a role she spent twelve years playing and those comments happened literally minutes after she received a massive award, so, yeah.
[h/t BuzzFeed]
[Image via screenshot]
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