Jennifer Lawrence . . .

The context of this text explains that actress Jennifer Lawrence is both upset and angered after reading the postings from the Sony hack which revealed that she was earning a substantial amount less than her male co-stars in one recent film. The text is a post by Jennifer Lawrence on the social media site facebook, explaining her thoughts and views on this recent discovery. During the post she writes about how she has never talked about feminism much before as she didn't want to seem like she was only talking about an issue because it was ''trending', but the Sony hack seems to have given Lawrence the last push to make her talk about these views and feelings. 

When reading this text I noticed that Jennifer Lawrence has used both some 'male' and 'female' features (according to Robin Lakoff) in her writing. The use of the short sentence ''Fuck that.'' is a typically male way of speaking as it is classed as vulgar behaviour showing frustration. Another way Jennifer Lawrence uses masculine language is when she talks about somebody who worked for her, ''I spoke my mind and gave my opinion in a clear and no-bullshit kind of way'' This type of language is viewed as a typically male way to speak, being blunt and concise with words, according to Lakoff. One sentence in particular at the beginning of the text stands out to me as she has used both a 'male' and 'female' style of speech simultaneously, ''but I fucking forgot, okay?'' This is interesting because according to Robin Lakoff's book 'language and the woman's place' when the word ''fucking'' is used it is seen as a male thing to do often adding to the stereotypical image of masculinity and anger whereas the use of tag questions such as the one Lawrence used '', okay?'' is something stereotypically a woman uses to gain reassurance. This could be a subtle way of showing feminist ideas, by destroying stereotypes set by older views and making speech equally used by men and women. Personally, I do not agree with Robin Lakoff's opinions of spoken language and genders, describing women as detailed, shy and humorless and men as blunt, angry and loud.

Overall, I agree with Jennifer Lawrence's post as it is unfair and incorrect for someone to be paid less than an equal co-star because of their gender. As time goes on and women are becoming very much an equally accepted power in society, why shouldn't women (both highly successful and less well known) be payed as much as men of equal positions in the workplace. However this can be argued against as for the recent film 'american hustle' which is the film in question Jennifer Lawrence worked 19 days, however her male co-stars Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale both worked for 46 and 45 days for double the pay that Lawrence received, as these numbers show she may have just been paid less as she did not work as many days as Cooper and Bale did. Although she wouldn't have earned exactly the same amount if she worked the same hours, the numbers would not be so dramatically different.

Bibliography: 

 http://deadline.com/2015/10/jennifer-lawrences-equal-pay-american-hustle-star-salaries-political-films-1201586975/

Jennifer Lawrence's post source- sheet handed out in class