Michelle Williams brilliantly brought Gwen Verdon to life in FX’s Fosse/Verdon. When it comes to Gwen, she was a woman who stood up for her art and what she believed in and Michelle Williams wanted to honor the woman to the best of her abilities, and that meant telling those in charge of what she needed.
Luckily for us all, Williams won Outstanding Lead Actress for her work on Fosse/Verdon and what she decided to do with her speech was to lift up those who were paid less than (specifically pointing out that women of color are paid less than white women) and expressed a need for creatives to listen to women.
“When a woman, especially a woman of color … tells you what she needs to do her job, listen to her… so that she can succeed because of her workplace environment and not in spite of it.” #Emmys #EqualityForAll #TatooThisOnMyHead Michelle Williams pic.twitter.com/wqNuFFgC5i
— Kelsey Trainor (@ktrain_11) September 23, 2019
From there, everyone began to share their praise for Michelle Williams and her brilliant speech!
Michelle Williams said on periodt #Emmys
— Ira thee Third (@ira) September 23, 2019
‘When a woman, especially a woman of color … tells you what she needs to do her job, listen to her… so that she can succeed because of her environment and not in spite of it.’
MICHELLE WILLIAMS. That was a whole word. #Emmys
— Derrick Clifton (@DerrickClifton) September 23, 2019
Michelle Williams thank you for acknowledging that there is a far greater wage gap for women of color than literally everyone else including white women #Emmys
— Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) September 23, 2019
Michelle Williams wins and uses the time to thank Fox for being paid equally and then calls out paying women of color 52 cents for every dollar earned by white men.#Emmys
— Charlotte Clymer🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) September 23, 2019
Michelle Williams: Allow women to succeed because of their work environment, not despite of it. 🙌🙌🙌THIS THIS THIS #Emmys2019
— Esther Choo, MD MPH (@choo_ek) September 23, 2019
“Listen to her. Believe her.” Michelle Williams, that was a speech.
— Casey Mink (@Casey_Mink) September 23, 2019
I don’t even know how long I’ve loved Michelle Williams, it seems like forever
— Mara “Get Rid of the Nazis” Wilson (@MaraWilson) September 23, 2019
put michelle williams’s emmy speech on my epitaph!
— rachel zegler (@rachelzegler) September 23, 2019
So often, women are supposed to do amazing things on screen without the same tools as men, without the same freedom. And with Michelle Williams’ speech, hopefully we can see a shift in letting women speak up about what they need to do their jobs and do their jobs well.
Congratulations to Michelle Williams and thank you for using your platform to share the truth in the wage gap, especially pointing out that it is far greater for women of color, and you pointing out that women should be able to have the tools needed for their work is like music to my ears.
(image: FX)
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