Patricia Arquette took home the Academy Award for her performance in Boyhood Sunday night and devoted her acceptance speech to winning equality for women. 

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

The internet, predictably, went wild — particularly about the passionate reactions from Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez.

Arquette's call for fairness came during an Oscars that has been widely criticized for featuring a slate of acting nominees composed entirely of white people. 

Host Neil Patrick Harris devoted his first joke of the night to the issue: "Tonight we honour Hollywood's best and whitest, I mean brightest."