Barbra Streisand and Jessica Chastain Comment on the 'Different Standards' That Women Face in the Film Industry

— -- Barbra Streisand and Jessica Chastain are speaking up about the discrimination and double-standards they've observed as women in the film industry.

Streisand, 73, and Chastain, 38, both wrote separate Op-Ed letters for The Hollywood Reporter yesterday, where the actresses tackled the topic of gender inequality in the film and entertainment industry. Both actresses shared personal stories of obstacles they've faced as women in the very male-dominated world.

Streisand opened up about the difficulties she faced as an actress and budding director in the '60s and '70s, when the acknowledgment of sexism and gender discrimination in the film industry was not as prominent as it is today. The actress discussed how her reputation as being "difficult" to work with is one example of how women and men are treated differently in the film industry.

"What does 'difficult' mean anyway?" Streisand wrote. "If a man on a set says something – 'I want to change this shot' – they do whatever he says. Now, if a woman asks..."

Streisand explained how the words that people use to describe women in the film industry are vastly different from the words that are used to describe men, and noted how this contributes to the gender-inequality problem in Hollywood.

"We're just measured by a different standard," Streisand wrote. "He's 'committed.' She's 'obsessed.' It's been said that a man's reach should exceed his grasp. Why can't that be true of a woman?"

In Chastain's Op-Ed, the "Zero Dark Thirty" actress discussed the boundaries that woman in the film industry are placed in, and noted that she wants to make sure that she is "contributing to creating diversity in the industry."

"It's like Viola Davis said in her Emmy speech: The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. It's the same situation with female directors versus male directors — they are not given the same opportunity," Chastain wrote.

"I don't want to be part of the statistics when only about 4 percent of Hollywood studio movies are directed by women," Chastain continued.

"I don't want my percentages to be the same as the status quo," she said.