I think I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again: British people don’t like talking about money. At the very least, they don’t enjoy talking about money the way Americans LOVE talking about money. The Brits find money discussions gauche and déclassé. This (correct) stereotype about British people has already come up in some interesting ways, especially as British actresses field questions about pay inequality and institutional sexism in their industry. Most of the British actresses don’t really want to talk about it, especially the money stuff. Kate Winslet is on-trend in that way. Kate spoke to the BBC this week and she declared those kinds of money/inequality conversations to be “vulgar.” Huh.
Jennifer Lawrence may have spoken up about the gender pay gap, but Kate Winslet’s not so keen.
“I’m having such a problem with these conversations,” Kate tells Newsbeat. “I understand why they are coming up but maybe it’s a British thing. I don’t like talking about money; it’s a bit vulgar isn’t it? I don’t think that’s a very nice conversation to have publically at all. I’m quite surprised by these conversations to be honest, simply because it seems quite a strange thing to be discussing out in the open like that. I am a very lucky woman and I’m quite happy with how things are ticking along.”
Kate Winslet stresses that it would be “dangerous” for her to comment on other people’s comments but visibly squirms when asked if she’s ever had to cope with sexism in the film industry.
“Honestly no,” she says. “And if I’d ever been in that situation I would have either dealt with it or removed myself from it. I find all this quite uncomfortable. I haven’t ever felt that I’ve really had to stick up for myself just because I’m a woman.”
Sigh… I have a problem with all of this, quite honestly. Even if Kate didn’t want to talk about wage inequality – which is her right – she could have easily found a way to shut down those questions without declaring the ongoing (and utterly necessary) conversation “vulgar.” You know what’s vulgar? That women across the board get paid significantly less than men for doing the same job. That is “vulgar” and “strange.” And I do think Kate is simply refusing to look beyond her own bubble of privilege here – she doesn’t feel like she’s experienced sexism or wage inequality, thus conversations about such things must be vulgar and gauche.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
She never experienced sexism? Didn’t James Cameron continually bully her on the set of Titanic and kept calling her “Kate Weighs-a-Lot?”
Agree. We have seen her face sexism. But apparently she wanted to remove herself from ever having to discuss embarrassing things in public.
I do agree with her that discussing money is vulgar. However, it has become necessary for women.
I don’t think it’s vulgar. It’s business.
In business you talk numbers and those numbers are what their life and worth is based on: money defines celebrities’ net worth, their status and their importance.
If an actress believes that talking about money is vulgar, she’s just being a hypocrite and she should change job.
I think there is a big difference with talking about personal money vs wage gap. I do think talking about your personal money is tacky but talking about pay gap is not at all & if we don’t talk about it then it will never change.
@MC2 – exactly right!
@TheRealAlicia
Haha, he did. +1
Also, shorter Kate Winslet: she can’t stand Jennifer Lawrence.
Kate is notoriously passive aggressive. Her behavior during her Oscar season a few years ago, was constantly derided in the British press.
I’m not sure that calling someone heavy is sexist. It’s a prick move but not necessarily a sexist one.
In the last four or five years, she has denied that he said that. They are pretty chummy. Cameron and Leo however, aren’t.
Oh I love her
Most British celebs (most, not all) were already wealthy before fame. They are posh and apart of the upper class. Kate has probably had money all of her life. Wage inequality probably doesn’t matter to her for that reason.
She doesn’t want to be bothered with silly peasant stuff like equality.
I don’t like Kate at all and I think her comments are incredibly ignorant, however, as far as I know, she comes from a working class background.
Her father was a pool contractor and her mother was a barmaid. I was curious enough to wiki it.
I agree. It’s vulgar to pay an actress who is working the same or more as their male counterpart, less then him. That’s vulgar and unfair.
This just highlights Jennifer Lawrence’s courage I think. No, she didn’t save lives or cure cancer, so don’t #sobrave me, but it is courageous to speak up, especially when you have a lot to lose.
+1. It is hard to speak up about many things, and most people won’t do it.
Oh Kate, I’m a fan, but sometimes you make it difficult.
I really hope she realizes how high-handed she sounds sometimes.
Ugh. Idiot.
Get real, Kate. She has never experienced sexism? Ooookay. Whenever we hear from people like her or Meryl, who are so far removed in their own bubble or would rather not rock the boat, it makes me cringe. Just say no comment, sounds way better to say that it’s vulgar to talk about injustice.
What about marrying someone named RocknRoll? Is she wants to talk about gauche and vulgar, ha!
Not only that but he’s from the Branson family so it’s easy for her not to want to talk about money when she’s swimming in the billionaire’s pool.
The more she talks the more annoying she becomes. And I am going back to the Sense and Sensibility days…
Ah well.
So, she gets offended when people judge her for having 3 children with 3 different men (let’s just ignore she married a Rock’n’roll and called her son Bear…. ) but then she feels ok to call out and judge (saying it’s vulgar – it’s judgement) women younger than her, with a shorter career and with so much more to lose fighting such a big battle against big names and powerful people, only because they want wage equality and just because the money talk is so beneath her.
The more she talks the less I like her.
Way to go Kate. You’re a hypocrite and by the way no one believes you when you say you’re 100% natural. Lies are vulgar. And also being all smarmy around any male co-star is vulgar. The way she fusses around Fassbender in interviews is puke inducing.
Girl bye.
Yes to all of it.
JLaw’s essay had a lot of positive effects and one of them is flushing out opinions and judgements like what Winslet is displaying here.
This is why speaking up is required: because no matter how bad you think things are, in reality they are 1 000 worse and if you don’t fight back it will catch up with you. Or you may be lucky enough and die ignorant and non-vulgar/ classy.
It’s easy to take this stance when you’re married to a Branson.
Just exactly what I came here to say. If you’re married to a Branson you don’t have to think about vulgar old money.
For that matter, if you happen to BE a Branson by birth, you can rename yourself Ned Rocknroll or whatever the hell it is, and still get one of the most successful actresses in the world to marry you.
Prvilege. Can’t live with it, so you name yrself Ned Rocknroll.
And of course before that, she was with an Oscar winning director for a decade.
That part about sexism kind of irks me the most. Combine it with the” vulgar” comment and she’s acting as though if she ever did encounter some form of sexism she’d just deal with it. As if, well, that would be the end of that, (plus she doesn’t seem to think beyond “that” or herself). It’s terribly blase. I think it’s a rather dumb thing to say. I can’t imagine someone being asked about racism and going, “Racism, yeah, nope, never encountered it. But if I did, I’d just deal with that ish or not deal with it and just move on”… Just say no comment. Cuz her hemming and hawing is hinting at almost a lack of empathy and a somewhat myopic view of these issues, obscured by her own privilege. “‘Tis vulgar, so best not.” Either that or she’s full of sh*t. I almost want to go, “Good for you Kate! Sexism never been a chicken wing for you? Lucky duck. It doesn’t get you down either? You’re more than ready and capable to deal with it, no problems? Rock on! And best of all, if push really came to shove, you DON’T have to deal with it. Because removing yourself from a situation is always, entirely possible and/or there’s no great sacrifice in avoidance. Kudos, Kate. Coo and Does.” So let’s just cut the sh*t. It’s weird that someone who gets in a tizzy about photoshopped editorials or ads for the cosmetics that she shills being so “meh” about this NOW. We’re going on a near two decade long battle she’s had with the media over body issues. That’s not sexism? Kate Weighs-A-Lot didn’t encounter sexism? About a year ago when Kate felt the need to publicly discuss questions and criticism about her having three kids with three fathers, giving her youngest child her surname, and how she’s not a bad mother and her children are taken care of, that didn’t a tiny-bit, intersect with sexism? Winslet also felt the need to lie about have a natural childbirth to avoid… You haven’t encountered sexism?! Nor does any of that count as defending yourself as a woman? Besides I’ve never detected any discomfort in Winslet when it came to defending herself. I’m just not getting this. Just say no comment, damn it. But don’t pull a Streep (who participated in the denigration of the word “feminism”) and insult other people while you talk out your rear.
Ladies, be well behaved, quiet, never ruffle any feathers, smile, pose, be enchanting and pleasant all the time and YOU TOO could make less than a man who never does any of those things! Apply now!
Please. Call it whatever you want but the reality is this is the same drivel they tried to push in the 50’s to now about how if you’re just a good girl and work really hard OF COURSE you’ll be treated and paid equally.
It didn’t happen and the lesson has been taught again that if you don’t speak up and fight for yourself society will be in no great rush to change to better you.
It is exactly the same, isn’t it? I’d include Meryl and her humanism in this category.
These women know their acclaim and lucrative careers largely depend on men and they like their privilege, so they don’t rock the boat in any other ways than the acceptable fig leaves that don’t upset the men.
This exactly. She and Meryl have many different masters in the form of men and regardless of how advanced and modern they pretend themselves to be they’re going for the old playbook of being the nice pleasant woman who doesn’t nag or bother the man.
Yes. Also, she can talk about body image with the sub-text being that she is a voluptuous woman who will appeal to many men. But she can’t talk about the gender pay gap because the sub-text of that will NOT appeal to the men who pay her salary.
You nailed it, as usual. It’s not so much that money talk is vulgar as it is don’t make the boys mad.
Drop that mic ladies.
I have nothing more to add other than that Kate ‘just one us’ Winslet has just cemented my dislike of her.
*applauds*
Seriously. She has never experienced sexism? Is she really this dumb or does she think we are? The woman who has been going on and on and ON about body image and how it affects women thinks she hasn’t experienced sexism? WHAT? She talked about her “real” breasts proudly, stressing how important it is to be an example to women everywhere and show that unrealistic beauty standards in Hollywood and elsewhere are bull. Great. How does she not make the connection? I’m sorry, I don’t know where my head is, this is also the woman who then became one of the faces of Lancôme.
What is up with these successful, wealthy (white) women who refuse to acknowledge their privilege? It’s not that hard or scary to speak out, it really isn’t.
Right? She of all people has been incredibly vocal about how much ish she got for her body and not being a perfect swan size 2 and yet she thinks she hasn’t experienced sexism?
It is a case of, “Are you stupid or do you think the rest of us are?” isn’t it? I don’t know whether to pity her naïveté or be baffled by her weak attempt at misdirection.
I’ve moved past pity. I’m not even baffled anymore. I’m pi**ed off at this point. For so many women all over the world it is impossible to speak up. A single mom with 2 jobs most likely can’t afford to stand up to her boss or speak out. And that is not even close to the worst case scenario. These women have no reason to be afraid and yet they refuse to reach down and offer a helping hand to the women who are coming up the ladder after them. We can find Jennifer Lawrence annoying as hell (I don’t) but SHE knows. She’s basically walking money and she has power and she’s using it. THIS sh*t gives me violent thoughts.
I can only shake my head at this. I love her as an actress but this makes her look extremely dense and privileged.
I like your name AND your comment, the eternal side eye!
I gather the likes of JLaw and Sandra Bullock LIKE to talk about money and sexism. We all love to talk about money (we’re messed up like that). Do poor Brits feel the same way?
Winslet can answer whatever she wants but accepting this “Brits don’t talk about money’ version implies that the women that did speak up against unfairness are vulgar. They are not vulgar, they are gutsy.
And I don’t believe Winslet didn’t experience sexism and wage inequality. She straight up lied.
Yet somehow I still love her. She’s a movie star. I prefer that to the OTT telling everyone how to live their lives by discussing the cause du jour.
I wish goop Reese etc had all gone more Julia roberts than reality show in your face oversharing selling cr*p we don’t need route. Just be a fabulous movie star. LOL
?
I could understand this if people were talking about specific dollars, like what she got paid for her last film, but that’s not what the wage gap conversation is about. It’s a comparison to how men and women are treated and paid in the industry (and most others), so it’s about equality, not someone’s bank account.
“And if I’d ever been in that situation I would have either dealt with it or removed myself from it.” Easy to say. And I call BS on her never experiencing sexism. If she doesn’t want to talk about it, fine, but she seems dismissive of it and the victims of it, and I can’t get on board with that. And I say that as a big fan of her work and someone who has defended her against some of the stuff people have said over the years.
Well said.
Agree with all lucy2. I was brought up very strictly to never, ever talk about money – how much you were paid, how much your dress cost, your house, all that. But I think discussing wage disparity is entirely different. It’s vulgar for a wealthy person to ignore the fact that women are paid 73 cents (I think) to a man’s dollar for the same job simply because it doesn’t affect her.
And I really dislike her attitude that had she experienced sexism, she simply would have willed it away, as if other women without the power to quit or leave or stop it were somehow weak and less than she is.
God, her comments lately have been so disappointing. Here her implication seems to be that women who don’t stand up for themselves or remove themselves from a situation in which they’re experiencing sexism or harassment are…weak? Lacking will/fortitude? What an awful, myopic viewpoint.
This is probably why she didn’t want to comment..when she says what she would do, she’s suddenly perceived as judging all women. I’m waiting for a celeb who admits their pay scale does not translate to the real world..experience, education and actual time ‘on the job’ is not what their negotiated compensation is dependent on. I don’t hear any of them claiming the many people who work on films who aren’t on-screen, but put in far more sweat and time on the project, deserve a bigger cut of the pie. I don’t find it vulgar, but pampered millionaires preaching to the masses is getting tiresome.
She didn’t find it vulgar to work with Roman Polanski.
God, this reminds me of my department head. Also from the UK. Took great offense when I was so bold as to directly ask questions when I believed there had been a mistake.
Some delicate sensibilities over there. I don’t have time for them.
yes very disappointing. She a major twit who wont get in the ring on real issues.
She’s talking PISH. Annoying f!cknugget* that she is. She should get in the bloody sea with all that nonsense.
I think many Britons do find ostentatious displays of wealth vulgar (if we ignore TOWIE and their ilk). And we think talking about money is rude because you wouldn’t want to make the person next to you feel bad if you have more than them. You can talk about being broke: that’s fine.
But neither aspect of avoiding talking about money has anything whatsoever to do with the gender pay gap, which, in my circles anyway, is regularly talked about as a social evil.
*Mr Sixer’s latest favourite swear word.
“She’s talking PISH.” – that comment made me think of Rab C Nesbit LOL.
Tell Mr. Sixer he’s my kind of gent with language like that, f!cknugget will undoubtedly revisit me at the exact moment I need to be solemn and mature. Then I shall be a giggling 12 yr old.
I find maturity is over-rated. Especially considering it doesn’t appear to confer any salary implications for we peasant vagina-bearers. 😉
I was also raised that it was rude to talk about money in the sense of: what one earns, what one has; what one spends but not rude to discuss it in terms of social justice and wage equality falls into the social justice bucket.
Yes, that’s it. I think we probably are over-prissy about money and wealth display here in Britland. But the point of it being vulgar is to avoid making other people feel small or unworthy. It has nothing whatsoever to do with financial injustice and British manners, if that’s what she’s pretending to refer to, would say you stand up for the sufferers of it. It’s just total deflection on her part.
Exactly. I was raised the same way. The first time someone asked me how much I paid for a pair of shoes I was aghast and speechless. But wage disparity is hardly the same thing. Sixer was right above when she said Kate just doesn’t want to rock her cozy little boat.
This. All of it. Your fellow Brit co-signs every word, because that is precisely what the money thing is about.
Proudly declaring that your cashmere jersey came from a charity shop or Ebay, so you got it for peanuts, is fine. Proudly stating that you bought it for £500 from Brora is vulgar. Worse is asking how much someone else paid for something such as a lovely jersey, when it’s not actually your business in any way – just asking from curiosity about their spending habits. That is vulgar.
Talking about money isn’t vulgar as such, it’s boasting about it, or prying about it, that is. Discussions on equal pay aren’t vulgar at all.
I suppose it is gauche to talk about money when you’re married to Richard Branson’s nephew.
That just made laugh out loud! Something something costs something something rocket into space something something uncle something something how gauche to mention it!
Lol, she’s just bitter because she always plays the poor kid in Austen movies.
I’ll tell you what, I’m loving this 2015 trend of asking celebs for their opinions on social matters, because it’s making it really easy for me to decide who to support with my hard earned, less-than-what-my-male-coworkers-make income. For instance, I think a privileged actress who refuses to acknowledge the oppression and misogyny around her is ‘vulgar’, and I won’t be going to anymore of her movies.
And P.S.- You worked with James Cameron. Ain’t nobody believing you’ve never experienced sexism, Miss ‘Weighs-a-lot’.
Also:
she complained about being fat-shamed for not losing the extra weight after each one of her pregnancies, she was a total arsebadger while going on and on and on about the photoshop that women experience on the cover of a magazine, she couldn’t shut up about facing judgement for being married 3 times and giving birth to 3 children from 3 different (wealthy) fathers but hey….. talking money and business is vulgar.
I guess after she’s been offered a role she doesn’t even bother to ask how much her wage is.
Yeah right.
It’s much easier to be “quite happy with how things are ticking along” if no one ever tells you how much less money you’re making for equal work. Ignorance is bliss.
Labeling a topic as inappropriate for public debate is one of the most effective tools in the systematic oppression playbook.
This just put more flesh on the bones of my dislike for Winslet.
She just joined Meryl Streep on my Sh!t list.
In my opinion, Winslet was infinitely more talented than Lawrence when she was Lawrence’s age. That being said, I also think that Lawrence is infinitely more intelligent than Winslet. Winslet is someone who is good at acting but probably not much else. Lawrence, on the other hand, is a young woman who seems much more confident and witty and who probably will never end up married three times before the age of 40. Despite her perceived clumsiness, Lawrence has her head on straight. It’s astounding that Winslet has railed about beauty standards and her weight struggles for pretty much her entire career, yet she still doesn’t relate that to sexism and inequality.
Also, a part of me thinks this could be sour grapes on Winslet’s part. I’m sure she’s rolling her eyes at Lawrence’s antics and current success. It wouldn’t surprise me if Winslet is a secret member of the “I think Jennifer Lawrence is extremely overrated” club. Winslet is probably thinking she had to be nominated for an Oscar six times before winning while Lawrence wins an Oscar at such a young age for her role in Silver Linings Playbook. The unfairness of it all! Why should Lawrence complain about anything given her current position, Winslet is probably fuming to herself. There are a lot of things to dislike and criticize about Lawrence, but her essay on wage inequality is not one of them. Winslet comes off as very shallow, unintelligent, and ignorant with these comments.
Agreed. It makes me sad, because a very young Winslet was so very talented, and seemed so very sweet. But she lacked the confidence and sense of self, I think, to handle the sycophancy and the fame. And she was warped by it all. I really, really hope that Lawrence has more steel in her, and copes.
I’ve never really understood how Emma Thompson, who comes across as incredibly lovely as well as extremely intelligent, still seems so fond of Winslet, who in the last few years comes over as insufferably spoilt and vain.
This. Winslet just isn’t smart and I’m not sure she’s even capable of looking outside her own little bubble. It’s not even about fame, interviews she gave for her very first roles show this.
I think people related to her because of her body shape, and then they put a whole lot of positive attributes on her that she just doesn’t posses.
1.) Money is just math. Math isn’t vulgar, it’s beautifully and elegantly simple.
2.) Wage gaps are vulgar. Racism is vulgar. Sexism is vulgar. Pompous blowhards are vulgar.
3.) For someone who presents herself as intelligent Kate could have prepared a simple “I think it’s great that more women are taking action to achieve professional equality. I hope my daughters don’t have to face this sort of thing when they enter the workforce”. But no, she hiked her nose up as far as she could to make it more dramatic when she told us we’re vulgar for wanting to be paid what we are worth.
Scrooge McWinslet should go home and swim in her pool of money.
Her daughters will only have to work for something to do. Money won’t be an issue for them.
I’m frustrated by the fact that she acts like J. Law brought this on herself. SHE didn’t point out that she was making so much less than her male co-stars (I refuse to use the word counterpart, because she was arguably the biggest “star” in the sense that she generated a TON of buzz for the film, even if I like Amy Adams more), the Sony Hack did. J. Law wasn’t guessing or making assumptions, she had black and white evidence thrust very publicly in her face that she was being taken advantage of because of her gender. THAT is vulgar and appalling.
I don’t think talking about money is vulgar but J-Law speaking about it is weird. She is the highest paid actress in Hollywood and I am sure she gets paid way more for movies like HG and X-Men more then her male co-stars do. She made 52 million alone this year.What exatcly is she complaining about? There are many actors and actresses who do not make that kind of money. I find J-Law talking about it kinda hypocritical. Not to mention she makes lots of money from other things like her fancy Dior contract and other things.
So I take you missed that whole thing where JLaw and Amy Adams were both paid significantly less than all of their male costars for American Hustle?
I’m actually quite surprised you were sure that she would be paid the same as McAvoy & Fassbender for X Men, since its highly unlikely (especially taking into consideration that she joined that movie prior to HG and her Oscar win).
I agree that discussing the pay gap is important, but other than that I guess I’m alone here in agreeing with her. The obsession with money and work really is such a uniquely American thing, and I really find it exhausting. I’m loath to generalize an entire culture, but I loved there for several years, and in my experience it really is seen as common to discuss such things. That’s something I really didn’t miss about America–it was so refreshing for people to not constantly be asking “what do you do?”
Oh, terrific! Another entitled, coddled ignoramus opens her mouth and proves her stupidity.
I’ve rarely heard statements so dripping in privilege. Her stance on this issue is offensively ignorant. It makes me like Jennifer Lawrence even more.
Kate belongs to the middle ages with this thinking! But she encapsulates what’s wrong with the Brits. I like how they’re not super aggressive and competitive but this encourages disadvantage groups, including women, to sell themselves short.
But I think Winslet misses the point here: it is not about individual income but about income equality due to discrimination based on sex.
LMAO, having 3 kids with 3 different men is vulgar. This trashy ho needs to sit.
Seriously?
She’s one of those people who only cares about her own issues. When she was bigger she had a lot to say about fashion mags, as soon as she lost a bit of weight she was thrilled to take every cover she could get. She decried actresses taking off their clothes for mens mags, but as soon as one asks her to, she’s there. Photo-shopping is evil, until she gets crows feet. Botox is bad because it makes her feel like she’s aging badly, but it’s totally fine for her to use a lorry load of it.
She used to endorse American Express, so this ‘ugh money talk, so vulgar’ stuff is BS. This issue just doesn’t affect her, so she doesn’t give a crap.
Kate is an actress in the entertainment business and what she earns is relative to her ability to put “bums on seats” and sell a movie.
This is not an issue of equality and she is quite right not to discuss her earnings in the context of equal pay.
Of course there are actresses and actors who would like to be paid more, but the market decides this.
Not that smart or self-aware let’s face it.
Yes, Kate. It is awkward and uncomfortable to have to talk about wage inequality. That’s exactly why women need to. If we don’t stand up for ourselves and declare our value, no one is going to hand that to us. It isn’t a nice conversation. But as anyone knows, sometimes you have to go through some unfortunate and unpleasant conversations to get what is rightfully yours. Women should be advocating for themselves at work and in all spheres of their lives. It is necessary and a conversation that can only be advanced by having it out in the open.
Income equality is part of the equality discussion, so she misses the point. There’s also nothing ‘vulgar’ about it, since change is only brought by by openly talking about it. Unfortunately, being one of the (if not THE) highest paid actresses in HW, she probably feels inclined to keep quiet to not offend the boys in high places. It’s pure opportunism. Good for her if she honestly never experienced sexism while working in this industry, just the way she’s talking about it makes it sound like one of those little details that you just choose to overlook when they come your way. Be classy, be ignorant? Never leave your comfort zone? Blessed are the stupid, I guess.
You know, I don’t EVER believe in being silent about sexism, racism, or LGBT prejudice. It’s so rampant throughout our society, I believe in calling it out and calling it unacceptable. I think it’s extremely unacceptable to keep quiet, whether you’re comfortable or not. If you’re not standing against it vocally, you’re supporting it with your silence. Shame on her.