Meryl Streep Pens Letter to Congress Urging Support for Equal Rights Amendment

"I am writing to ask you to stand up for equality," she begins the letter

Meryl Streep is getting political.

The Oscar winner, general bad ass, etc. has penned a letter to each member of Congress urging them to add the Equal Rights Amendment, which guarantees parity for women under the law, into the U.S. Constitution. Although she will be taking on a political role in the upcoming movie, Suffragette, Streep is becoming a real-life activist for the sake of women's equality.

Streep, who just turned 66, urged members of Congress to fight for feminism. The packet she sent each member also included a copy of Equal Means Equal, a book written by Jessica Neuwirth that campaigns to include the amendment, according to The Guardian.

"I am writing to ask you to stand up for equality – for your mother, your daughter, your sister, your wife or yourself – by actively supporting the equal rights amendment," Streep wrote in her letter. "A whole new generation of women and girls are talking about equality - equal pay, equal protection from sexual assault, equal rights."

The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1920 after women received the right to vote. It was introduced to Congress every year from 1923 onwards, but it didn't pass until 1972. In 1982 it fell short by three states to be added to the Constitution. The amendment simply states, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., included her support in Streep's letter.

"The time is ripe to ratify the equal rights amendment," she wrote. "Seventy percent of people polled think that we already have an ERA in the constitution and they're shocked to find we don't have one."

The Into the Woods actress has been vocal in the past about her political beliefs, and even gave Patricia Arquette a standing ovation at the 2015 Oscars when she called for equal pay and rights for women during her acceptance speech.

"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."