Hollywood's leading ladies are increasingly focusing on the gender pay disparity

Traditionally the office space was a maledominated area and even with women working shoulder to shoulder with men today it seems not much has changed and that reflects in the pay chequesEven today in Hollywood female stars get far less money that their male colleagues And since last year actresses have taken a stand and called out the many double standards that lay beneath the fancy exteriors of showbizCase in point Sharon Stone The highprofile actress who made a major breakthrough with her role in Basic Instinct spoke strongly about how the wage gap issue has personally impacted herShe says ldquoI remember sitting in my kitchen with my manager and crying and saying Irsquom not going to work until I get paidrdquo also adding that she ldquostill got paid so much less than any manrdquoA number of actresses have personally taken on the role of being a harbinger of change and the issue per se seems to be gaining momentum In fact 2015 is turning out to be the year when Hollywood actresses openly raged against the pay disparity and work opportunity issue We take a look at a few powerful actresses who joined the roster and voiced their sentiments bravelyJennifer LawrenceThe Hunger Games actress penned an entire essay where she openly addressed the fact that she was paid a lot less than her American Hustle costars The actresses essay was notable for its sentiments of anger an emotion one would not associate with the actressrsquos otherwise affable imagelsquoIrsquom over trying to find the lsquoadorablersquo way to state my opinion and still be likablersquo she wrote Lawrence later made headlines when it was reported that in a first of its kind incident she would be earning a staggering 20 million as opposed to her costar Chris Prattrsquos 12 millionAmanda SeyfriedThe actress hit back against the pay issue and very strongly at that The actress claimed that she was paid about 10 per cent of what her male costar earned for one of her movies despite the fact that she and him were equal in stature and body of work ldquoItrsquos not about how much you get itrsquos about how fair it isrdquo she saidSienna MillerMiller refused a big Broadway role after learning that she was being paid a lot less than a male costar She went on to make a powerful statement about how women need to take a stand if they expect things to change ldquoThe producer wouldnrsquot pay me within a million miles of what the male actor was being paid The only way is to make a stand We are going to have to make sacrifices to make change I want to turn up and feel dignifiedrdquoPatricia Arquette Many actresses silently jumped with joy in unison when Arquette took to the Oscar stage this year to speak up against the gender wage gap ldquoTo every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation we have fought for everybody elsersquos equal rightsItrsquos our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of Americardquo were the words of her nowfamous speech which immediately received a strong show of support on social media and otherwiseCharlize TheronThe talented actress made headlines earlier this year when it was reported that she negotiated to be paid the same as her male costar Chris Hemsworth The initial pay gap was about 10 million dollars She also spoke out in support of Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence saying that ldquotheyrsquore as good as any of the guys out thererdquoGwyneth PaltrowIn an almost poignant statement the actress equated being paid less than a male costar as lsquopainfulrsquo ldquoYour salary is a way to quantify what yoursquore worth If men are being paid a lot more for doing the same thing it feels shyrdquo she said She stated that though her costar Robert Downey Jr was worth every penny and much more if she disclosed the actual disparity in figures it would leave everyone surprised