Women in web3, more specifically those on crypto twitter, are confusing. I say that as someone who is one, and still often feels like I’m watching a bizarre performance unfold in real time. One week, we’re all about protecting women at conferences and speaking up about misogyny. The next, it’s subtweeting the same girl for existing too confidently. Pick a damn lane!!!
There’s a kind of feminism in this space that’s 90% slogan, 10% substance. “Girls support girls!” until it’s time to actually do that. It’s the kind of feminism that posts well, gets good engagement, and does absolutely nothing beyond that. Meanwhile, these same women will boost founders and apps that actively undermine women, vote against community proposals that would benefit marginalized builders, and brush off racism or harassment as “not my business.”
If you’re going to talk about protecting women in web3, do it when it’s inconvenient too. Otherwise, it’s just brand maintenance, no?
There’s this unspoken aesthetic some of you are chasing in the Web3 girlie world "I'm not like other girls!" It’s confusing. The aesthetic is feminist-lite, but the actions are giving Twitter groupthink and deeply internalized misogyny. I’ve seen women with platforms rally for better conditions, and then in the same breath, make fun of another woman’s startup pitch or outfit choice at a conference
I love internet humour. I love irony. I love tongue in cheek! But I need to say this with love:
You’re just loud and slightly too comfortable with being online 24/7. There’s a difference between humour and detached irony that’s been fried from years of pretending internet culture = personality. Some of you are dangerously close to tech bro with a ring light.
A friend recently told me about a conference interaction. She met a girl who was nice and well connected online, until the topic turned to funding & navigating the web3 space. She turned demeaning, condescending, and proceeded to talk down on their economic situation. A lot of the women I've come across seem to only be pro-woman when they're resourced, polished, and non-threatening. You support safety and inclusion but only for women who look and move like you? That’s not feminism. That’s branding.
And then there’s the man who wouldn’t stop asking me to buy my nudes. When I told a friend, their response was: “Yeah but he’s well-liked and well-connected in the space.”
Okay? So are a lot of people who shouldn’t be.
Why are we still defending unprofessional, gross behaviour because someone has “connections”? And why is it always the women cleaning it up, quietly messaging each other, taking screenshots just in case?
Side note - the same women who publicly advocate to protect women, are the ones dating, and mingling with the same men from above. Again, the selective feminism is palpable.
Recently, an investor I follow tweeted something about wanting to see more “girly tech” in the space. The replies? Chaos.
The girls were mad. The energy I got from most replies were “I’m building something and I’m a girl! You didn’t invest in me!”
Listen. Just because you’re a woman building a company does not make it “girly tech.” Just because your UI has rounded corners and a serif logo doesn’t mean it’s culturally relevant. And no one is obligated to invest in you to prove they support women.
The truth is, most of the “girly tech” I’ve seen in Web3 feels like a recycled version of the same 3 products, passed around with different names and slightly tweaked branding. It’s copy-paste with a splash of pastel & pink.
When I think “girly tech,” I think of 2010s Tumblr: messy, hyper-personal, full of subcultures, humour, darkness, brilliance. It wasn’t sanitized or safe. It wasn’t trying to be perfect. It had soul.
What’s being built now often feels like the aesthetic of culture without any culture actually inside it.
This isn’t a callout. It’s a mirror. If you see yourself in any of this, that’s fine. Me too, sometimes. That’s the point.
But let’s be honest: we could be building something better. More interesting. More real. Instead, we’re stuck performing feminism, recycling the same ideas, and pretending mediocrity is empowering because it comes with a pink logo.
I’m not asking for perfection. I’m asking for culture. For care. For actual vision. For tech that doesn’t just include women, but is shaped by them in meaningful, messy, genre-defying ways.
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You're asking for feminism in a hypercapitalist space. Change the hypercapitalism, and the feminism will be easier.
Thank you for putting this out. It rings so true (me, also a woman in crypto for many years now but never tapped into the "just a girl" thing), also doesn't help that feminism these days is often paraded by companies in order to sell you stuff. Being a feminist is now as easy as buying a bag that says "the future is female" or whatever.
Actually as a man,im not into femenism stuff,and as a context of a career of being a physician can’t even judge the space.but if something works, usually no need to change it.
100000%, sometimes the pinkwashing is coming from inside the house
Spot on. Too many people put business culture and capital idealism into the ego when it comes to Web3, and it’s never been meant to be that. Great article and unique perspective; thank you for sharing.
thank you so much for reading <3!