On Sunday evening Patricia Arquette celebrated her Oscars win with a stirring speech that called for equal pay and equal rights for women.

The rally cry led to the best GIFs of the night with Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Shirley Maclaine cheering and fist-pumping in support. Elected officials like Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) enthusiastically endorsed Arquette's message along with thousands of other viewers, making her acceptance speech one of the most remarked on moments of the evening.

Terrific #Oscar speech from @PattyArquette - she's absolutely right; it's long past time to pass #equalpay & give women a #fairshot. — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 23, 2015

Patricia Arquette speaks the truth! "It's time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women..." #Oscars — Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) February 23, 2015

But by Monday morning, Arquette seemed less of a hero as Twitter began dissecting the controversial comments she made backstage.

"Equal means equal. The truth of it is the older an actress gets, the less money she makes. It’s inexcusable that we talk about equal rights for women in other countries and yet…we don’t have equal rights for women in America," Arquette said. “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.”

With that sentiment, Arquette managed to insert herself into one of the most politically and socially charged debates of feminism: that the political movement has been defined by white women who regularly exclude and marginalize LGBT women and women of color.

On Sunday evening, the feminist writer Roxane Gay quickly pointed out that Arquette implied enough attention had been paid to the struggles of the LGBT community and people of color.

The idea that queers & POC have had their time in the struggle spotlight long enough. Eek. Ma'am. Congrats on yr Oscar tho. You are talented — roxane gay (@rgay) February 23, 2015

Others on Twitter argued that even if Arquette was well-intentioned, her remarks revealed a divisive and tone-deaf understanding of modern feminism.

Arquette had the best of intentions, but it's 2015. We are so far beyond "best intentions." — Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) February 23, 2015

It's not about punishing or destroying her. It's about cracking open this ongoing White Feminism™ menace. — Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) February 23, 2015

What Patricia Arquette said last night set feminism back. She could do well by stepping up and reflecting publicly on error of her words. — Erin Matson (@erintothemax) February 23, 2015

Yes, it's great to call for equal rights for women. No, it's not cool to pit 'women' against people of color and LGBT people (often women!). — Erin Matson (@erintothemax) February 23, 2015

By implying it's racial equality OR women's equality, demeans women of color&let's lawmakers keep ignoring their role in fight for justice. — Morgan MenesesSheets (@morgmeneshets) February 23, 2015

Even Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, gently tried to explain why Arquette's comments could be insensitive and wrong-headed.

Great to see voting rights, #EqualPay, immigration, health care, & more at #Oscars2015. Bottom line: All these issues are all our issues. — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) February 23, 2015

Women are also people of color, members of the LGBT community, caretakers, immigrants, students, & voters. #ForwardTogether — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) February 23, 2015

We can't let ourselves be separated into individual issues & interest groups. This is about fundamental justice & taking a stand together. — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) February 23, 2015

It's not clear if Arquette would have phrased her thoughts differently given more time and less pressure, and Mashable could not immediately reach her for comment. By late Monday morning, Arquette began tweeting seemingly in defense of her remarks.

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

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

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

Surely Arquette hadn't planned on turning her Oscar win into a hard lesson about how to talk about feminism. Yet, that's the state of public conversation today: When you make pronouncements about equality from one of the world's largest stages, people will hear you — and they'll demand that you hear them back.

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