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Benedict Cumberbatch has one simple way men can help fix pay inequity.

Doctor Strange is making some really important magic happen in Hollywood.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the Marvel superhero doctor, is getting vocal about equal pay and calling on all men in the industry to make sacrifices when their female counterparts aren't given it.

Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images.

In an interview with Radio Times Magazine on May 13, 2018, he laid out one simple way men can make sure female co-workers behind the scenes are being treated and getting paid equally.

"Equal pay and a place at the table are the central tenets of feminism," he told the magazine. "Look at your quotas. Ask what women are being paid, and say, 'If she's not paid the same as the men, I'm not doing it.'"

The internet was pretty stoked about Cumberbatch's statement.

Cumberbatch is no stranger to standing up for what's right. He's used his platform to speak out against the British government's abuse of civil liberties, went off on world governments for not doing more to help Syrian refugees, and participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise funds for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness. In short, he's been a bit of a superhero long before his Marvel days.  

Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for BFI.

Given the pervasive pay gap between men and women in Hollywood, Cumberbatch's bold statements are more important than ever.    

Nationwide, women make about $0.85 to a man's dollar. In Hollywood, women are often paid less than their male co-stars evenin cases when a woman plays a leading role.

TV host, actress, and producer Oprah Winfrey spoke eloquently about challenging the status quo in an interview for the Time Firsts project. Winfrey discussed recognizing the pay inequality as she was leading her talkshow, "Oprah." New to the industry herself at the time, she wanted to make sure her employees — many of whom were women trying to find their way in the industry — were being paid equally. She approached a producer who was reluctant about raising salaries for the young women.

"He actually said to me, 'They're only girls. They're a bunch of girls. What do they need more money for?'" she explained.  "I go, 'Well, either they're gonna get raises, or I'm gonna sit down. I will not work unless they get paid.' And so they did."

Cumberbatch's production company, SunnyMarch, is largely run by women and aims to produce and support more female-focused dramas.    

"I'm proud that [partner] Adam [Ackland] and I are the only men in our production company; our next project is a female story with a female lens about motherhood, in a time of environmental disaster," Cumberbatch said. "If it's centered around my name, to get investors, then we can use that attention for a raft of female projects. Half the audience is female!"    

Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images.

As a straight, white actor, Cumberbatch's use of his privilege sets an important example for other actors in similar positions.

To achieve true pay equality in Hollywood, more male actors — particularly those who inherently have more privilege than others — should continue using their platforms and resources to support other women, make public calls for change, and use their networks to push for systematic change. Only then can we make true, systematic change from the ground up.

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Watch Audi's bold, touching, and totally feminist Super Bowl ad.

"What do I tell my daughter?"

"Do I tell her that her grandpa is worth more than her grandma? That her dad is worth more than her mom?"

All GIFs via Audi/YouTube.

"Do I tell her that — despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence — she will automatically be valued less than every man she ever meets?"

"Or maybe, I'll be able to tell her something different."

Those are the narrator's words in a powerful new Super Bowl ad by Audi that highlights pay inequity.

Check it out below:  

Clearly, Audi's not shying away from using the big game to make a political statement.

Pay inequity, a hot topic on the 2016 campaign trail, has become an increasingly important issue to many Americans.

Today, women earn, on average, a measly 79 cents for every dollar a man makes. The wage gap is even more severe for women of color — with black women earning about 64 cents and Latina women earning about 56 cents for every dollar that finds its way into the wallet of a man doing the same job.

That 79 cents figure, however, doesn't quite tell the whole story.

There are many factors that play into the wage gap aside from discrimination. For instance, women tend to leave the workforce when they have children (which sets them back on the pay scale in the long term) and are more likely to seek out jobs with more flexible hours at the expense of a higher salary, The Washington Post noted.

There are other social factors at play, too, like the fact women are less likely to negotiate their starting salaries and are more hesitant to apply for a job that they're not 100% qualified for (this isn't the case for men).

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

But again, that's still only telling part of the story.

The ad received a lot of criticism from viewers who jumped at the chance to explain why they think pay inequity isn't a real problem.

As The Wall Street Journal reported, negative comments on the ad's YouTube video far outnumber the positive ones.

And here's where we come to the rest of the story.

The thing is, even when you do account for all the other non-discriminatory factors, like women leaving the workforce to raise kids or not negotiating higher salaries, women are still earning significantly less than men.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

Congress' Joint Economic Committee released an April 2016 report detailing how pay inequity is affecting women. Beyond larger economic and societal influences, the report concluded that gender bias still plays a big role.

"Economists believe that the gender pay gap is caused by complex factors," the report reads. "However, even when all those factors are taken into account, as much as 40% of the pay gap may be attributed to discrimination."

Take salary negotiations, for instance: Yes, women may be less likely to ask for higher pay, but even when they do, they tend to have less success in actually securing it.

Heartfelt Super Bowl ad aside, if Audi wants to make a bold statement about the pay gap, the company should also walk the walk. And from the looks of it, they're committed to closing their own pay gap.

As many pointed out on Twitter, the company certainly has room for improvement when it comes to gender equality in the workforce — just two of their top 14 executives are women, for instance — but the car company has made moves to get better.

In Dec. 2016, Audi signed the White House Equal Pay Pledge with the Obama administration, committing to conduct annual company-wide gender pay analysis and review its hiring practices to reduce gender bias along with other initiatives. Audi says it also supports external programs that empower women in STEM and business fields.  

Making a powerful ad is one thing, following through with real-world action is another.

"Progress is in every decision we make, every technology we invent, every vehicle we build," the brand said in a statement.

"Audi of America is committed to equal pay for equal work."

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Scarlett Johansson is the top-grossing actor in 2016. Here's what's wrong with that.

She makes big bucks for Hollywood for a bargain.

It was just announced that Scarlett Johansson is 2016's top grossing actor.

Yes, that means she made more money for the movies she worked on than any other actor — male or female.

Collectively, her films raked in $1.2 billion worldwide over the past year. She was also named highest grossing actress ever this past summer, thanks largely in part to her ass-kicking role of Black Widow in "The Avengers."

Not too shabby, Ms. Johansson.

Photo by AFP/Getty Images.

Before you throw on your party clothes and celebrate women finally besting men financially in Hollywood though, remember this — top grossing doesn't mean top earning.

Sure, Johansson may have made over a billion dollars for the producers who employed her, but a very small percentage of that actually went into her pocket.

Photo by Antony Harvey/Getty Images.

In fact, according to Forbes, if you weigh Johansson's salary against her overall gross, she's quite the bargain. For every $1 she earns, she brings in $88.60 for the studios, which actually makes her Hollywood's best female value.

Starting to see the problem?

She still makes a lot of money by average person standards, but the point is, she's not making what she's worth. And she's not alone.

In fact, when you look at the top earning actors in 2016, you won't see a woman's name in the top five.

Jennifer Lawrence. Photo by Matt Winkelmyer/Getty Images.

According to Forbes, the highest paid actress in 2016 was Jennifer Lawrence with $46 million — that puts her in sixth place. The highest paid actor overall was Dwayne Johnson (aka "The Rock") at $64.5 million — that's an $18.5 million wage gap right there.

And it gets worse. Forbes' annual list that tracks earnings from June 1, 2015, through June 1, 2016, shows the top 10 highest paid actresses combined earnings were $205 million — less than half that of the top 10 actors' earnings of $456.5 million, collectively.

Ageism also plays a part in this wage gender gap. All top 10 earning actors are over 40, whereas half the top 10 actresses are under 40, and all are under 50.

Needless to say, there's a lot that's wrong with the bias against women in Hollywood, but women are fighting harder than ever to change it — and they're starting to succeed more and more.

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Emmy Rossum, star of the hit show "Shameless" refused to return to work until she received equal pay to her co-star William H. Macy. Not only did she achieve her appropriate pay, she also received retroactive pay to even out the gap that existed in previous show seasons.

Felicity Jones negotiated the largest salary (far and away above her male co-stars) for her work on "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

When Gillian Anderson, star of "The X-Files" television show and subsequent movies, discovered her salary was smaller than her co-star David Duchovny twice (first for the original series, then the 2015 revival), she called it out publicly, and succeeded in righting the wrong both times.  She was compensated accordingly for her role in the TV series and film.

Of course, there's still more work to be done, and it's reflective of the gender inequality across the country.

Women face a gender wage gap in nearly every occupation in America. And that gap grows significantly wider for women of color. So while the salaries of these actresses aren't exactly relatable, the bias they face in the workplace is.

Because of their public influence, however, the stands these women are taking to rectify these inequalities can have a real impact on all of us. As such, it's important we support them and tell the world we too are tired of working hard and making less.  

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As a Latina, I'm paid 54 cents of every dollar a white man earns. That's infuriating.

There's no reason I should earn just over half of what a white man does for doing the same job.

I am a Latina, a writer, a sister, a friend. And I get paid 54 cents on every dollar a white man earns for doing the same exact job as me.

To put that in perspective, I, an average Latina woman, would not see equal pay with white men until 2248 (232 years from now) if the current inequality trends continue.

In 2015, full-time female workers made only 80 cents for ever dollar a man earned. Latinas also made at least 24 cents less than their female, non-minority counterparts, too. That hurts.

Say what? Image via iStock.

This is all according to a report released just in time for Latina Equal Pay Day, celebrated on Nov. 1, 2016. The report was both surprising and frustrating. Twitter's response to the new stats was even more shocking.

The tweets were fast and furious. Latinas (myself included) were all too eager to chime in on the incredibly unfair pay gap between a white man and a Latina woman.

Using the hashtag #LatinaEqualPay, women from all over the world are talking candidly about this issue of income inequality in the Latino community.

Their comments bring to light the incredible wage gap that exists not only between men and women, but also between women and women of color as well.  

Here are nine tweets that drive the point home in a powerful way:

1. There were cries of anger. Can you blame us?

2. These statistics by Voto Latino = ouch!

3. We're not asking for any favors. It's quite simple.

4. Even elected politicians like Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) weighed in on the huge pay gap.

5. As well as longtime Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D), also representing the Golden State.

6. For those who think visually, this chart is, well, off the charts!

7. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) also chimed in.

8. So many of us are about this life, Daniella!

9. One word: solidarity. We're all in this together!

Of course we don't expect things to change overnight. But they do need to change.

Perhaps reading these statistics out loud or seeing these numbers and charts will remind everyone how unfair the wage gap is for minority women.

And as one tweet pointed out, we're not looking for a handout. We just want to earn the same (not more, not less) as any man who is doing the same job.

We know the world is not fair, but that doesn't mean we can't take the necessary and much-needed steps towards making things a little more balanced, no matter how long it takes.

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