Patricia Arquette's Empowering Oscars Speech Deserves a Standing Ovation

To anyone following the Oscars, Patricia Arquette winning best supporting actress for Boyhood was not a surprise.

What was a surprise was Arquette's ovation-worthy acceptance speech. After speeding through the requisite list of thank you's, Arquette launched into a fantastic feminist call to action: "To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America."

Now that is how you take a stand. 

Arquette brought the house down, but the best reaction by far came from Meryl Streep:

To her credit, J. Lo also seemed pretty pumped.

According to the American Association of University Women, "In 2013, among full-time, year-round workers, women were paid 78% of what men were paid." 

Arquette was long favored to win the award for her turn as a single mother in Richard Linklater's critically acclaimed film, so she likely had plenty of time to think about how to best use her time on stage. Congratulations to Arquette on her well-deserved win, and thanks to her for using her Oscar night platform to bring attention to a real issue that affects thousands of women every day. 

To echo Meryl: YES.