Sandra Bullock knows that closing the wage gap is just one step towards gender equality.
In Variety's cover story this week, Bullock talked about why more than equal pay is necessary to truly level the playing field for women in Hollywood. "It’s a bigger issue than money," she said. "I know we’re focused on the money part right now. That’s just a byproduct."
Bullock said there's a big difference in the way actresses and actors are described in the news, with women constantly being "mocked and judged."
"I keep saying, 'Why is it that no one is standing up and saying you can’t say that about a woman?'" she told Variety. "I always make a joke: 'Watch, we’re going to walk down the red carpet, I’m going to be asked about my dress and my hair while the man standing next to me will be asked about his performance and political issues.'”
She said that we need to treat women like they're equals in order for issues such as the wage gap to fall in place and ultimately fix itself. "Once we start shifting how we perceive women and stop thinking about them as 'less than,' the pay disparity will take care of itself. There’s a much bigger issue at hand. I’m glad Hollywood got caught," Bullock said, referring to the Sony hack that revealed A-list actresses like Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron were being paid less than their male coworkers.
Bullock said that she knows it's going to be hard to explain the issue to her now 5-year-old son, Louis. "How do you explain to your son that the ERA hasn’t passed? I want him to think I’m the boss and women are equal, but I can’t really support that in the outside world," she said. "I hope in my lifetime, for him, everything is a level-playing field."
We hope so too, Sandra.
Head over to Variety to read more from Bullock.
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