It could have been a big night for women at the Academy Awards last night. Rachel Morrison, director of photography of "Mudbound," was the first woman in the 90-year history of the Oscars to be nominated for cinematography. And Greta Gerwig, director of "Lady Bird," could have become the second woman in Oscar history to win best director.

"The star of this year's Oscars is female empowerment," Tom O'Neil, founder of awards website GoldDerby.com, tells Reuters. "A film with a female perspective has not won best picture since 'Million Dollar Baby' in 2005. This year, four of the nine nominated movies have a female perspective. That's remarkable."

As it turns out, only six women took home Academy Awards on Sunday night, compared with 33 male winners. That's the fewest female winners since 2012.

A Hollywood pay gap also very much persists, even for A-listers.