NFTs Unleash the Imagination: The Gender Gap That Needs to be Addressed

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have gotten a lot of media attention, but experts agree that they will have an impact beyond selling digital art or tweets and forever changing the way people communicate ideas.

Although the global NFT market is expected to break this mold, it is as pale, masculine and outdated as the traditional art industry. Recent statistics show that only 16% of NFT creators are women, a startling gender gap that reflects the underrepresentation of women in the NFT ecosystem today.

According to a survey conducted by Art Tactic and published by Bloomberg, works by female artists account for only 5% of sales in the NFT market. In contrast, creations by male artists accounted for 77% of sales (16% for artists of unknown gender and 2% for collectives).

However, some NFT projects are working to overcome this problem. Rarible is one of them. Rarible prioritizes supporting female-led NFT projects. Cointelegraph interviewed industry experts Masha Vyazemskaya, head of communications at Rarible, and Rebekah Keida, chief marketing officer at XBTO, about the gender gap in the NFT space.

According to Vyazemskaya, the technology industry has always been a male-dominated field, which she believes "creates a sense of dauntingness among many women who want to enter the NFT space." She added:

"As the industry continues to mature, it's important to champion our female artists and innovators, promote and encourage their work, and give them more opportunities to shape the future of the industry."

She believes that the challenges faced by female creators when they first enter the NFT space are based on "the broader technology industry." According to her, "The traditional tech industry has historically pandered to men's aspirations and success, creating a misleading expectation that technology is primarily for men."

Vyazemskaya believes that awareness is a critical first step in encouraging more women to participate in the NFT industry. As she puts it, by supporting successful female creators and projects led by women, we will set a precedent for future generations of innovators that the NFT space is a "community of women."

According to XBTO’s Rebekah Keida, two important measures to increase the number of women involved in the NFT and Web3 space are “getting more people involved in cryptocurrency education and fostering a greater sense of inclusion.”

“To be honest, the industry is young and rapidly evolving, so no one is really an 'expert'. We all learn together. The more we can promote this concept of inclusivity, the more this field will be embraced by new crypto Users and women who want to get involved are welcome."

What advice would they give to women considering a career in NFTs? Vyazemskaya said it's a good idea to start engaging with other creators and collectors as soon as possible.

In her view, the NFT community is one of the "most supportive" communities, and many truly valuable exchanges and interactions take place on social media and Internet marketplaces such as Rarible.

On the other hand, Keida advises, it seems easy to get started, just get started. “Do your own research,” she adds, and she sees great value in one-on-one conversations, whether via Twitter or Discord. The typical media coverage of NFT investment stories is rosy — either a huge success or a catastrophic failure.

"When you get in touch and start making personal connections, you realize there are so many insights to glean."

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.