Accepting the Oscar for best supporting actress, Patricia Arquette gave a shout out to equal pay, saying:

“To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It is our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

Social media lit up, mostly in approval, though some noted that her use of the term “citizen” excluded many immigrants. But that was not Fox News contributor Stacey Dash’s problem with Arquette’s statement:

“I was appalled. I could not believe it. I mean, first of all, Patricia Arquette needs to do her history. In 1963, Kennedy passed an equal pay law. It’s still in effect. I didn’t get the memo that I didn’t have any rights.”

Because “not quite equal rights” and “not any rights at all” are exactly the same thing. And a law calling for equal pay is all you need, even if in reality, women earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, and even if you work—as Patricia Arquette does—in an industry where recently leaked emails showed women being paid far less than their male counterparts.

This article originally appeared in dailykos.com on February 23, 2015. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author: Laura Clawson is Daily Kos contributing editor since December 2006. Labor editor since 2011. Laura at Daily Kos