( CNN ) For the second year in a row Hollywood 's leading women let fly a clarion call , setting the industry to rights . Following Cate Blanchett 's remarks last year , in which the Best Actress winner excoriated the industry for its focus of male-centric filmmaking , Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette rounded on America 's attitude to gender inequality . Reading from a prepared speech Arquette dedicated her award to `` every woman who gave birth , to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation . We have fought for everybody else 's equal rights , it 's our time to have wage equality once and for all , and equal rights for women in the United States of America . '' The actress ' comments received a rousing response ; three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep burst into enthusiastic applause alongside Jennifer Lopez , whilst Arquette 's 'Boyhood ' co-star Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklaker looked on with a mixture of pride and surprise . Social media immediately rallied behind Arquette 's call . Model Cara Delevingne took to Instagram while 'Girls ' creator Lena Dunham and documentary maker Michael Moore turned to Twitter . It was a night in which inequality was in tight focus . Host Neil Patrick Harris poked fun at the lack of diversity among the nominations , whilst rapper Common and R & B star John Legend brought tears to the eyes of audience members with their rendition of 'Selma 's civil rights inspired song 'Glory ' . But with much of the pre-ceremony disquiet focused on the lack of racial diversity , few expected women 's inequality would be brought to the fore . Wage inequality is still prevalent in America . Women earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn , the nation ranking 65th globally in a report last autumn by the World Economic Forum . Last year the top ten earning actors made a combined $ 419 million , whilst the top ten earning actresses only managed $ 226 million . Arquette 's comments come after reports repeatedly confirm that women in Hollywood are being underpaid and underrepresented compared to their male counterparts . A 2014 study from the Journal of Management Inquiry found Hollywood 's women commanded their highest wages at the average age of 34 , before rapidly declining . Meanwhile men peak at the considerably older age of 51 , remaining stable thereafter . It speaks to Hollywood 's obsession with women aging that much of the praise Arquette received for 'Boyhood ' revolved around her choice to age naturally on screen across the film 's long gestation period , from her peak of 33 through to 46 . At age 65 , Streep has rebuffed the terminal decline Hollywood imposes on many actresses ' careers , but the pedestal the industry places her upon testifies to how rare a case she is . A recent report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film has recorded a dearth of female-driven features , with actresses making up only 12 % of protagonists in 2014 's top-grossing films . This was despite such films earning a large share of total box office -- spearheaded by Jennifer Lawrence , 'The Hunger Games : Mockingjay - Part 1 ' was the top-grossing film in the U.S. last year with $ 334 million . But such leading parts are few and far between . In fact , data suggests the number of female starring roles is decreasing , falling 3 % since 2013 and down 4 % on 2002 . Author of the study , Dr Martha Lauzen , told Variety that `` there is a growing disconnect or gap between what we might perceive as being the current status of women in film and their actual status ... A few high-profile cases can skew our thinking . '' Lead actresses are even missing out in films directed by women . Last year female protagonists starred in only 39 % of such films , whilst those directed by men registered at a meager 4 % . Among the 57 films nominated at this year 's Oscars , 15 had out-and-out female leads -- that being , a film told from the lead actress ' perspective . Representing 26 % of the total nominees , this percentage is far higher than Hollywood 's output last year . However , among those 15 films there were 11 foreign films , shorts , animations and documentaries , demonstrating how leading actresses are often left on the periphery when it comes to major Hollywood features . There were no female-driven stories among the eight films vying for Best Picture ; so too in both adapted and original screenplay categories . Speaking of the lack of female-driven films , Dr Lauzen pointed the finger of blame at those off-screen . `` We need to have greater diversity behind the scenes if this is going to change . '' Read LZ Granderson on inequality at the Academy Awards . Read more from CNN at the Academy Awards . Read more from Leading Women .
Arquette took to the stage and criticized the lack of gender equality in America . “Women are still not equal under our laws,” she said. Women took only 12 % of leading roles in Hollywood last year . Women also underrepresented in minor roles , with age demographics still skewed towards the young .