Los Angeles: Emma Watson, one of the foremost advocates of women's rights in Hollywood, says gender-based pay disparity is not just limited to showbusiness but affects women in all spheres.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The pay disparity between male and female stars in Hollywood has been criticised by stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Patricia Arquette.


Lawrence even penned an article to talk about how she did not always push for a better raise fearing she will be perceived as a 'diva' or a 'difficult woman'.


Watson, who has taken a year's sabbatical from films to focus on women's issues around the globe, admits that women have to not only fight for equal pay but also the negative perception that comes with it.


"We are not supposed to talk about money, because people will think you're 'difficult' or a 'diva.'


"But there's a willingness now to be like, 'Fine. Call me a 'diva', call me a 'feminazi', call me 'difficult,' call me a 'First World feminist', call me whatever you want, it's not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing and make sure that the right thing happens'. Because it doesn't just affect me," Watson said in an interview to Esquire.


"Whether you are a woman on a tea plantation in Kenya, or a stockbroker on Wall Street, or a Hollywood actress, no one is being paid equally," the actress said.


The 'Harry Potter' star, however, acknowledges that there is a shift in this perception and that may help her fight gender-based prejudices.


"It's so awesome to be at the forefront of that wave and that energy and just being able to channel that which I found mildly horrifying all of the crazy attention on me and doing something good with it, it just feels like I'm really doing what I'm meant to be doing."


Watson, 25, founded the gender equality organization HeForShe in 2014, the year she was appointed a UN Global Goodwill Ambassador.