This week Jennifer Lawrence, star of the Hunger Games franchise and everyone's imaginary BFF, addressed them again in an article she wrote for Lenny, a newsletter project of Girls star Lena Dunham and her friend Jenni Konner.
In the letter, J-Law says she shied away from negotiating her pay packets for fear of coming across as "spoiled" or "difficult".
"It's hard for me to speak about my experience as a working woman because I can safely say my problems aren't exactly relatable," she wrote.
"When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d**ks, I didn't get mad at Sony.
"I got mad at myself. I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early. I didn't want to keep fighting over millions of dollars that, frankly, due to two franchises, I don't need. (I told you it wasn't relatable, don't hate me.)"
Jennifer's frank and honest take on the gender wage gap is a stark reminder to all women that, in some ways, the gulf between men's and women's pay packets is our own doing. What the beloved Hollywood starlet has admitted is something I'm sure many of us can relate to.
It is also something echoed by Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell at the indulge Speaker Collective last week. Diane, who used to manage multiple business units at BNZ, said that she often had men come storming into her office with a list of reasons as to why they deserved a pay rise.
In all her time as head of brand and corporate affairs, not once did a woman do the same. I doubt very much those men were concerned about coming across as spoiled or difficult.
So we women shouldn't waste time worrying about that either.
When I look back on my own career, particularly in its early stages, I never negotiated on pay. But then I read that a contributing factor to the gender pay gap is the cumulative effect, over time, of having negotiated one's pay at the start of a career with a company.
If two employees work the same job, even $2000 extra at the start can equate to thousands and thousands thousands of dollars' difference over time.
And I'm not talking about promotions either, that's just based on everyone getting the same 2 per cent annual pay rise over 40 years. It's just basic maths. And don't get me started on saying women aren't good at maths. Give me a discount on a pair of shoes, any time of day or night, and I'll always be able to tell you exactly how many dollars and cents I saved.
Research shows men nearly always negotiate and women often don't.
But we should. We know we can do the job, we know we're good at it. So if you don't think you're being paid what you're worth, you need to say so.
Negotiating is just one of the many, many factors that contribute to the gender pay gap, which in New Zealand is a whopping 11.8 per cent. But, unlike many of those factors, it's one that we can actually control. If we ask for more money, what's the worst that can happen? They say no and you're no worse off than you were before. But the best that can happen?
You back yourself, and your skills, you're vocal about your worth and, if your employer is smart, they see that too, and pay you accordingly. Which, in turn, gives you more money for shoes!
And what's not to like about that?
