Women NFT Artists call for Gender Equity in Web3
NFT marketplaces are dominated by men, both as creators and consumers. A November study over 20 months by ArtTactic found that women account for only 15% of artists. Male artists command 77% of the total primary and secondary sales value, mainly because the most successful artists were overwhelmingly men.
The only woman to make the top 10 bestselling artists was singer Grimes in early 2021, selling $8.9 million worth of NFTs — but her success is likely attributed to her music following; women artists without her loyal fanbase saw substantially lower sales on Nifty Gateway — the second bestselling female artist Jo-Anie Charland earned $1.6 million, much lower than her male counterparts.
However, despite gender barriers that have historically dominated the tech and art world, women artists see the NFT space as a separate arena. They see decentralisation and the blockchain as an opportunity to finally shake the old guard and create a new world where women hold more influence. But in order to do so, they will still have to navigate old gender biases as they await Web3 innovation.
Despite more awareness regarding gender discrimination, there is still a human-disconnect. Women see gender-gatekeeping and virtue-signalling by men who sometimes tweet for support for women-made NFTs, but fail to mention specific women’s names in those same calls for investment and do not buy art from women themselves. Ultimately, men still gravitate toward other men, finding it easier to relate to and collaborate with those like them.
We often see men asking for ways to support women who start selling NFTs. 26 year old artist Maliha Abidi’s response to that is: It’s not hard, simply buy their art. “It’s not rocket science,” Abidi adds. “How you would support a bro, that’s how you support a woman.”
Source: Hoover, A. (2022). Just like supporting a bro. Morning Brew.
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