9 female celebrities on the gender pay gap and how to fix it

It's 2019 and women are still not getting paid as much as men. It's ridiculous, disrespectful, and just plain unacceptable.

But the good news is, there are plenty of women advocating for equal pay and breaking down the taboos associated with talking about money. Today may be Equal Pay Day, but we should be thinking and talking about ways to close the gender pay gap every day.

Here are nine quotes from celebrities, athletes, and other successful women on their experience negotiating for more.

1. Nicki Minaj, rapper

"Women are uncomfortable talking about money. I know it's taboo to discuss it at work. Technically, you shouldn't, but you need to know what people around you are making. Otherwise, you're not going to know what you're worth. You have to ask questions. 'What is this person getting?' Do your research. I've always been pretty competitive in terms of my pay."

2. Oprah Winfrey, media extraordinaire

"I went to my boss at the time and I said everybody needs a raise. And he said, 'Why?' He actually said to me, 'They're only girls. They're a bunch of girls — what do they need more money for?' I go, 'Well, either they're going to get raises, or I'm going to sit down.' I will not work unless they get paid. And so they did."

3. Carli Lloyd, soccer player

"So when I joined four teammates in filing a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer late last month, it had nothing to do with how much I love to play for my country. It had everything to do with what’s right and what’s fair, and with upholding a fundamental American concept: equal pay for equal play."

4. Michelle Obama, First Lady of the U.S.

"I took my last job [before my husband entered the White House] because of my boss’s reaction to my family situation. I didn’t have a babysitter, so I took Sasha right in there with me in her crib and her rocker. I was still nursing, so I was wearing my nursing shirt. I told my boss, 'This is what I have: two small kids. My husband is running for the U.S. Senate. I will not work part time. I need flexibility. I need a good salary. I need to be able to afford babysitting. And if you can do all that, and you’re willing to be flexible with me because I will get the job done, I can work hard on a flexible schedule.' I was very clear. And he said yes to everything."

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5. Octavia Spencer, actress

"We can’t wonder if we’re worth it. If you put in the time and become an expert at what you do, then you should be paid as an expert."

6. Emma Stone, actress

"In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair. That’s something that’s also not discussed, necessarily — that our getting equal pay is going to require people to selflessly say, 'That’s what’s fair.' If my male co-star, who has a higher quote than me but believes we are equal, takes a pay cut so that I can match him, that changes my quote in the future and changes my life. And this is Billie Jean’s feminism, and I love it — she is equality, man: equality, equality, equality."

7. Meryl Streep, actress

"The [Devil Wears Prada offer] was to my mind slightly, if not insulting, not perhaps reflective of my actual value to the project. There was my ‘goodbye moment,’ and then they doubled the offer. I was 55, and I had just learned, at a very late date, how to deal on my own behalf."

8. Emma Watson, actress

"The reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work."

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9. Cate Blanchett, actress

"It just feels like the industry has the same conversation every year, and I think that's a fabulous conversation... We'll be back here like Groundhog Day next year having the same fucking symposium. It just has to shift."