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Money.
It's an uncomfortable topic at the best of times, shrouded in secrecy and taboo. But it shapes the freedom, control and material opportunities open to us. And it's wrapped up in racial and gender inequality.
Money is a political question. With all the social justice conversation around women's safety, #metoo and #timesup, money is perhaps the most overlooked in understanding the power dynamics that create the environments ripe for abuse.
It's a question four Hollywood heavyweights did not shy away from, talking openly about their challenges negotiating the pay gap and how it is linked to race and gender politics.
Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo, Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez and actresses Gabrielle Union and Emma Roberts featured in the half hour television special for Porter magazine’s ‘Women in Television’ issue.
Pompeo took it away, achieving iconic white ally status for calling out the very magazine hosting the show for its lack of diversity in the crew, and for saying it is the responsibility of white people to start taking real steps to rectify racial and pay imbalances in industry.
"There’s a tonne of women in the room, but I don’t see enough colour, and I didn’t see enough colour when I walked in the room today," she said. "When I show up on set I would like to see the crew look like the world I walk around in every day.
"It’s up to all productions to make sure the crew looks like the world we see. As Caucasian people, it’s our job, it’s our task, it’s our responsibility, to speak up in every single room we walk into.
"That it’s not ok. It’s our job, because we created the problem," she added.
The comments were lauded online, including by Pompeo's boss and Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes.
In the emotional conversation, the stars opened up about how difficult the pay gap conversation was to have in the rarefied world of Hollywood, with the risk of being seen as ungrateful for sums that would be astronomical to regular people.
But celebrities, like the Greek Gods, are symbolic. They are all about magnifying our own stories and struggles. Listening in to the challenges of powerful women negotiating the issues ordinary women feel stymied by, makes it easier for all of us, in our way to negotiate for better outcomes, not just individually but most importantly structurally.
Despite leading a critically acclaimed comedy series, Rodriguez talked about how terrifying she still found pay negotiations as a woman of colour in an monocultural industry where she was grateful for just being included.
“I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay," she said
"It’s a very scary space to step into. I always feel like I fail when I speak about it because I can’t help but feel already so gracious to do what I do and culturally I was raised to feel so appreciative of getting here.”
Gaberille Union echoed the sentiment on how challenging it was for women of colour to negotiate the emotions around self-worth and value that are tied into pay in an environment where you are a minority.
"You feel like a jackass. You feel like you should just be grateful and be quiet because it is more than others... That feeling carries over in negotiation...because we are so conditioned to be grateful to have a seat at the table. Not even a seat at the table. We are nowhere near the table, we are near the door! And we are supposed to be happy about that."
"You get to a point where I am not going to feel good on set if I am undervalued and if my money does not match my level of contribution."
Union and Rodriguez shared tricks used by Hollywood which stymie women's equality, including everything from arbitrary evaluations of star power to isolating and forcing actresses to compete for roles, and (the old favourite) offering the promise of critical awards as an incentive for poorly paid work.
Pompeo shared how learning the three billion plus profits made by Disney on Grey's Anatomy helped her negotiate her $700,000 plus per episode fee.
The actresses shared how they subverted this system by being transparent about pay rates to each other, not taking on work that scavenged off other's stalled negotiations, and ultimately having each other's back.
"That’s how all these white men got rich. They have each other’s back. Power sees power and says I’m going to keep you right where you are, because then you are going to keep me right where I’m at," said Rodriguez. "We should be doing the exact same thing with each other. We’ve got to support each other...we have to use our power for power. We have to lift each other up."
It's heartening to hear women are unionising and arming themselves with knowledge. With allies like Pompeo leading the way, things are going to change pretty fast for the cashed-up power brokers behind the scenes. They will be forced to reckon with an emboldened new generation of women, on their way to making some serious coin (and good shows), and perhaps eventually replace them altogether.
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