Do you want to pay cash for customizable avatars of slender, perfectly coiffed cartoon girls that you can see “exclusive” nudes of? Welcome to the latest addition to the crazy world of NFTs
At first glance, one of the newer NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on the Ethereum network is innocuous enough: Avatars of women, each adorned in different hairstyles, makeup, and clothing, facing forward with a neutral expression. But then you realize that NFTs are called “Meta Girlfriends” and the underlying philosophy of the project becomes a bit clearer.
“Meta Girlfriends represent the mature side of NFT Art,” the home page boasts. “They are randomly generated using over 600 traits, across 20 categories, to ensure each one has a unique personality.”
Meta Girlfriends debuted in November, with the goal of minting 10,000 NFTs, spread out at the current cost of 0.08 Etherium, only around $250, as of this writing. Only 1,642 NFTs have been minted so far, but the brand is pushing for more visibility and has quickly gained a following on social media (it has 10,000 Twitter followers since logging in in September).
Why “mature”? Because, as the site explains, the Meta Girlfriends are meant to be “fully clothed” and only visible “from the trash [sic] up” to the public eye, but it all comes out in the “Members Only” area, where can you see her. “full body” and “private NSFW content” as the owner of the NFT.
Not that there’s anything particularly groundbreaking or offensive about Meta Girlfriends’ aesthetic alone. The notion of playing “dress up” with a sexy avatar reminds me of the dirty Flash games of the mid-2000s, hosted in the NSFW corners of sites like EbaumsWorld.com. The big difference, of course, is that you’re not paying $250 when you strip a busty digital cartoon on one of the countless “porn game” sites out there today.
In fact, it’s the idea of ownership that makes Meta Girlfriends such an interesting referendum on the masculinity of financial brothers, and its creators aren’t shy about building the narrative of “owning” a girlfriend with the intention of growing up. in monetary and sensual value over time. “Our goal is to create and promote value by holding on to your Meta Girlfriends. The longer you keep your Meta Girlfriends, the more private content you will have access to. But if you want to break away from her, the royalties will help us fund additional private content and marketing to continue to drive value for Meta Girlfriend owners,” read a statement on NFT’s official Discord.
There is a whiff of real-world misogyny that emerges from the framing of this relationship, including narratives of men with red pills insisting that women are all about sexual hierarchy and social currency, rather than complex human beings with needs. independent. Meta Girlfriends also boasts of being a “deflationary” NFT, which means there are a limited number of girls to go around, a number that will decrease over time by design.
Some users have already spent some good money to buy multiple Meta Girlfriends and “combine” them in a program called “Rainbow Room” to make a single unique NFT. This mechanism, along with other microtransactions to upgrade and modify a Meta Girlfriend, are intended to increase the range and rarity of each girl’s traits.
Is this a smart way to increase scarcity and value? Maybe. But is there something unattractive about men controlling the female form through financial means? Also, maybe!
To be clear, there are women who own Meta Girlfriends NFTs, and the development team says that female artists have contributed to the project. But looking through her Discord server reveals plenty of men elated and in awe of the scantily clad illustrations, and taking pride in the fantasies each avatar represents (a typical comment: “My level 3 gf: Play bunny when I go out, VR geek at home. Not bad!” jokes one Discord user).
It’s also hard to ignore the fact that every “girlfriend” has Instagram model proportions, with a large bust, small waist, and thick thighs. For all the options you get in customization, there is nothing that changes the proportions of this figure. There are, of course, no “Meta Boyfriend” options in the offing, either.
NSFW art has a long tradition thanks to literary formats like manga and digital platforms like DeviantArt, which contains a universe of strange and beautiful works from the minds of men and women alike. But Meta Girlfriends finds itself at an awkward intersection of female representation, male arousal, and a questionable investment vehicle, all underpinned by a lust for profit. This is the most direct creation one can imagine coming out of a financial sector dominated by heterosexuals.
Beyond that, the absurdity of Meta Girlfriends only underscores some very real questions about NFTs, including what they say about the nature of late-stage capitalism and the value of everything, even an inherently worthless illustration on the internet, being commodified by maximum. (Especially considering that cryptocurrencies are pretty terrible for the environment, which is perfect for the climate crisis.)
It makes me think of a statement by software engineer and blogger Aleksandr Hovhannisyan: “The only impressive thing about selling memes like NFT is that people have managed to get away with it, that there are actually buyers who are willing to spend money.” . in these kinds of things.”
NFT lovers, especially Meta Girlfriends owners, may roll their eyes at this criticism and see it as yet another myopic attempt to deliberately misconstrue NFTs, or even deflate their value. But in every way, NFTs are an abstract toy of those who have money to burn or are just desperate for a quick buck, and Meta Girlfriends feeds on toxic tropes about women to draw people into a community built on a delusion. .
We are seeing NFTs run into significant fraud, money laundering and valuation declines. But for now, none of that outweighs the inherent importance of illustrated boobs. Even the ones that cost $250 to look at.
