Patricia is a wonder woman! Take a scroll through her twitter feed @pattyarquette and you will get a clear view of what her opinions are. Her no bullshit attitude about women’s issues are refreshing and inspiring. She has the stage and she knows exactly what she wants to say to the world and this is why I love her. She won an Oscar for her performance in Boyhood. Instead of using her moment to talk about herself and her accomplishments (which she had every right to do) she used her moment to shine light on an issue that is currently being ignored in the United States. I gleamed with pride when I heard her speech.

Watch her speech now if you missed it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-EmDy3w1X8

This statement got quite a bit of lash back which I attribute to the fact that people don’t see women’s rights as an issue anymore. You don’t hear about women in the news, and if you do it is seen as an isolated incident instead of a widespread problem that needs to be dealt with.

I love Patricia’s twitter. If you need to start a fire in your for the rights of women just take a look at her feed.

Equal pay is not the only area that America graces the bottom of the list in women’s issues. We also have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the developed world, but the best doctors? Women’s medical care is not equal to men’s. America also has one of the worst maternity leave policies compared to the developed world. America has a long way to go for women’s rights. The fight is not over.

Patricia Arquette is a Wonder Woman for bringing women’s issues to the spotlight. In an interview with thewrap.com Patricia laid out the facts:

“In California alone, women [in total] lose $33 billion a year in income and that’s money that’s not going into their retirement. But, no one seems to want to do anything or move on this issue.”

“I won an Academy Award for playing a single mom who struggled really hard and had to move her kids several times, change school, work her way up — and why should she be paid 25 cents less for the same job?”

“Latina women are making 56 cents to the dollar. Black women are making 64 cents to the dollar and white women are making 72 cents to the dollar,” she said off the top of her head. “Why aren’t women just making dollar for dollar for the same work?”

Patricia is on fire for women and it is catching. If you have a woman you love in this world then women’s issues are your issues. Wage equality is just the beginning. We have a lot of work to do for women in this country and I am so excited to be a part of the change. The change must start with women. Individual women must demand equality. We must demand change. No one else is going to fight our fight. Having the right to vote does not mean equality.

I want my daughter (future daughter) to know: that she will be paid the same as a man for the same job, she wont have to worry about how she will be treated in the work place when she decides to have a baby, that she will be given paid maternity leave that is reasonable and then welcomed back if she chooses. Women deserve this. Our policies that are currently in place for women’s rights are filled with loop holes the size of the grand canyon and are not working. I can tell you from my own experience with the law and women’s issues that we are failing women all over our country. Especially women of color. The gap between men and women in regards to equal rights in America is embarrassing. It is time for a change.

Women make up over half of the earths population about 52%. Women bear our future children. Women’s rights is not a woman issue, it is a human issue.

XOXO

Haley Anne