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At the annual Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston on Thursday, Streep, in conversation with feminist activist Gloria Steinem, said that she and other notable women in Hollywood are making very specific demands to industry executives about the future – namely, she said, for equal pay. “We are after 50/50 by 2020,” she said, per U.S. News & World Report. “Equal means equal. And if it starts at the top, none of these shenanigans would have filtered down and it wouldn’t have been tolerated.” Streep has long been encouraging Congress to back the Equal Rights Amendment. In 2015, she sent every single member a package in the mail that contained a personal letter asking them to “stand up for equality – for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself – by actively supporting the Equal Rights Amendment” and a copy of E.R.A. Coalition President Jessica Neuwirth’s book, Equal Means Equal. Streep later said that Congress essentially ignored her plea. But, at the conference on Thursday, Streep said that now – as dozens of men, in Hollywood and beyond, fall from their positions of power after sexual assault allegations – is the time to, once again, demand change. “It’s such an interesting moment, because this conversation about why this is so widespread, this is really worth having and it’s fantastic,” she said. “I can’t help thinking it’s just a door that’s opening to a better world.” She called the recent allegations “the most gargantuan example of disrespect.” Her quote from the conference has been widely misquoted and misunderstood by everyone who doesn’t read beyond the headlines, so take your time to get the facts. Hopefully, a full video from the conference will be posted soon.
