Last time I shared something here from the perspective of my identity as a woman, I didn't enjoy the degenerate arguments that collected in the comments. It scared me away from saying anything for a while. Well, I'm deciding now that I'm not scared of ya'll. And this is my opinion on "being a woman" in bitcoin.

Here's an anecdote about why this has come up again: Last week, I was hanging out with a few friends I've made that work for a bitcoin focused company. We were catching up after not seeing each other for a few months, and it was so much fun. We gathered around a fire, argued our beliefs about God, and sang "Rich Men North of Richmond" together. Because what else would we do? Anyway, one man from the group put a question to me. He asked, basically, "How do you do this? How do you stand being a woman in this space?"

I get why he wants to know this. I understand the place where he's coming from. There's an organic, protective "this-is-not-for-you" attitude that shells, let's say, mainstream bitcoin. Personally, I have never felt that I wasn't welcomed, yet I have spent a lot of time on Twitter. So if that was my only proxy for understanding this culture, I would feel some type of way about it.

I also have understanding for why such a protective nature exists. It is the network's best defense. Maybe it's my exposure to subcultures through music and art that make me comfortable with the idea. Or what I was trying to state when I spoke on this before, maybe it's that I have a special tolerance for being a loner, just happy to be in the room.

This is how I answered my friend: "I'm just an individual who has adjacent interest in this."

I think that's simple enough, but I'll explain further. When you show up to bitcoin, there is a temptation to want to save something. There's a vortex that pulls you in and tells you, "your contribution can actually matter here, so what are you going to do?" It can be tempting to discover a cause to promote. It happens often, and it takes a lot of people down. This is part of the network's defense. I felt this temptation, and if I ran with it, I would be promoting the gender equality cause. But I believe that is a futile pursuit. I don't like that game, it's a fiat game. I do not care to step into the position as the judge of equality.

And do you know what's a whole lot more fun than waving a banner? It's kind of the opposite. It's taking whatever opportunities that interest me. It is having faith that if I seek it, I will find it. It is believing that my job is to do what is true, and let my work find the people it is meant for.

So I don't care that I'm a woman, and you don't either. I mean, I love being a woman. It means a lot of very special things to me. But the reason I'm here is because it doesn't matter who I am, if I have something to add that's valuable to anyone, I'm capable of realizing it. That responsibility rests on me, not the crowd.

Thanks for reading!