Womansplain

Problem Statement

WOMANSPLAIN is a Farcaster Mini App where anyone can submit questions or screenshots, but only verified women can answer and vote. Women earn crypto rewards for their advice, and everything happens onchain with privacy intact. The concept is simple, but the execution required combining Web3 Celo and Self protocol.

Solution

How do you prove someone is a woman without doxxing them? You can't just ask people to self-identify (hello, trolls). You can't demand they upload selfies (privacy nightmare). You need cryptographic proof. The Solution: Self Protocol. We integrated Self Protocol's identity verification system that uses zero-knowledge proofs. Self Protocol: Cryptographic Proof of Womanhood The core challenge was solving something that sounds impossible: how do you prove someone is a woman without doxxing them? You can't just ask people to self-identify because trolls exist. You can't demand selfies because that's a privacy nightmare. You need cryptographic proof. We integrated Self Protocol's identity verification system using zero-knowledge proofs, which is essentially math magic that lets you prove something is true without revealing the underlying data. When a woman wants to become an advisor, she clicks verify and Self Protocol scans her government-issued ID using their mobile app. The system extracts the gender field, validates the document's authenticity, then creates a cryptographic proof that says "this wallet belongs to a female person" without ever transmitting her name, address, photo, or any personal information. Our smart contract deployed on Celo receives this proof, verifies the cryptographic signature, and grants the wallet "Verified Woman" status onchain. The contract literally won't let you give advice unless Self Protocol confirms you're a woman. It's not a suggestion or honor system, it's mathematics enforcing gender-gated access. This is completely unprecedented. We're among the first applications to use Self Protocol not just for "prove you're human" but for "prove your specific demographic attribute while maintaining total anonymity." The innovation goes further. We also extract birth dates from the verification to calculate astrological signs, routing questions to compatible advisors. A Capricorn asking for advice gets routed to earth signs for grounded perspectives. It's totally unnecessary, completely fun, and demonstrates the flexibility of Self Protocol's attribute verification system. This unconventional usage showcases how identity verification can be both secure and playful.Celo: Mobile-First Social Impact Blockchain We didn't choose Celo randomly. Every technical decision serves our mission of economic empowerment for women. Celo was designed from day one for mobile-first experiences, which is critical because our target users are women giving advice during lunch breaks, on commutes, in between life responsibilities. They're on smartphones, not desktop computers with hardware wallets. Celo's lightweight client architecture means verification and transactions work seamlessly on any device. The blockchain was literally built for applications like ours, with a mission of prosperity for all that aligns perfectly with our goal of creating economic opportunity for women. Our smart contract deployed on Celo Sepolia testnet, with the ProofOfWomanhood contract verified at address 0x7D03a457A5919Df05a37bDC424126A1C4D37E97D. The future integration with cUSD means stable earnings without cryptocurrency volatility. Women won't experience "I earned fifty dollars but now it's worth twelve" frustration. This is real economic opportunity, not speculation. Low gas fees make frequent interactions affordable. Multiple small transactions for answering questions, voting on red flags, earning points all remain economically viable, which wouldn't work on expensive chains. So we built natively on Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol that combines Web3 infrastructure with Web2 usability. Users already have wallets embedded in their Farcaster accounts. When they open WOMANSPLAIN, there's no setup, no extension installation, no "what the hell is gas" conversations. It just works. We implemented the Farcaster Frame SDK and wagmi connector for seamless wallet integration. Better UX means more users, which means more women earning money, which is the entire point. The social layer integration means questions can be shared as Farcaster casts, creating viral distribution. Community discovery happens through feeds. The platform feels like a normal social app, not a blockchain application. That's intentional. We're hiding the complexity while leveraging the trustless verification and transparent economics that only blockchain enables.Women earn Validation Points for every contribution. Initial Self Protocol verification awards fifty points. Each answer earns ten points. Red flag voting earns five points. Community upvotes add two points. These points unlock badge progression from Verified to Advisor to Expert to Legend, with each badge stored onchain as proof of reputation. This isn't speculative tokenomics. It's a clear system where expertise and contribution earn tangible rewards. Future token conversion means points translate to real economic value. Women are finally compensated for emotional labor that's been free since the dawn of time. Your mom, your friends, coworkers who always know what to say, they've provided billions of dollars in unpaid advice. We're changing that.