A Crumb Maiden is a term used to describe women who betray their own gender in exchange for the small crumbs of power tossed to them by the patriarchy.
These women
reject feminism and because they are so desperate for proximity to the patriarchal structures which give them a sense of power, they will actively advocate against the interest of women.
They will even fight against one another as they scramble for the crumbs of power tossed to them by men who will rescind that power when the Crumb Maiden no longer serves a purpose to them (I.e.
Republican and
LNP women).
This term was originally coined in Canberra by Peta Swarbrick and
Bethany Williams on 22 August
2020, after they watched an online interview with Mona Eltahawy (American/Egyptian
feminist) who discussed how some women uphold the patriarchy in exchange for the tiny crumbs of power tossed to them.
After the interview, Peta and
Bethany described these women as Crumb Maidens, and began to regularly tweet #CrumbMaiden on Twitter, sharing the term with Mona Eltahawy who was delighted with the term.
A year later, a Guardian journalist used the term in her writing, which incorrectly caused the term to be attributed her.
