Why Aren't They Called "Dadpreneurs"? The Problem with Female Entrepreneur Labels
How gendered terms like "mompreneur" and "female entrepreneur" create funding gaps and credibility issues
Hey friends!
Last week I saw a quote on Instagram that stopped me cold.
“Why aren’t they called Working Dads...”
My immediate response was YEAH! Why aren’t they called working dads (picture indignation and head nodding)
In the next breath I thought well it’s the same reason they aren’t called “Dadpreneurs” or “Male Entrepreneurs” or any of the other ridiculous sexist terms that get applied to women. It sucks. Really, really sucks.
So naturally, I went down a research rabbit hole to figure out when this whole mess started.
When Did We Start Othering Women in Business?
Back in the mid-19th century, about 7.5% of all women worked outside of the home. There was a special subgroup of women who were Dressmakers, Milliners, Innkeepers, or Shopkeepers. On rare occasions these women would be called Proprietress, the feminine version of Proprietor.
I want you to notice something. These women were identified by WHAT they DID not Female Innkeeper, or Female Dressmaker, Working Mom Milliner, or Working Mom Shopkeeper. The other fact I found interesting was if this group of women were ever put into a larger category it was Proprietress—only the suffix changed. They weren’t identified as Female Proprietors. Somehow I find this comforting.
But then something shifted.
By the 1950’s and ‘60’s, women who owned businesses started downplaying what they did, calling their work “sidelines.” Not businesses. Not enterprises. Sidelines—as if they needed to apologize for taking up space in a man’s world of commerce.
And then came the late ‘70’s when the term “Entrepreneur” became “understood” to mean a man. Entrepreneurship was reserved for men. This is where we first see the formal delineation of the sexes. Women who owned a business suddenly became “Female Entrepreneurs” or Female Business Owners.
We went from being identified by what we did to being identified by what we are—as if our gender was more important than our work.
And Then Came “Mompreneur”
This little beauty entered the scene in the late-1990’s when Ellen Parlapiano and Pat Cobe, co-authors of “Mompreneurs: A Mother’s Practical Step by Step Guide to Work-at-Home Success,” coined the term. They even trademarked it.
I find the word, Mompreneur, to be one of the most insulting words in the English language. The name itself implies that being a Mom must come first and foremost at all times and all cost—like your business is just a cute little hobby you do between diaper changes. Here’s the truth: You are an entrepreneur who also happens to be a mother. Period. Not the other way around.
So Why Does Any of This Matter?
Because here’s what happens when you slap “female” in front of “entrepreneur.” You’re not just adding a descriptor. You’re signaling to the world that this person is different. Unusual. Not the norm.
And that signal? It costs real money.
When you label someone a “female entrepreneur,” you’re:
Reducing their loan approval chances by 5%
Making them pay higher interest rates
Causing customers, suppliers, and banks to question their competence on a daily basis
Creating what researchers call a “cupcake stigma” where their business is dismissed as a hobby
Trapping them in an impossible double-bind: act “feminine” and you’re not seen as entrepreneurial enough; act “entrepreneurial” and you’re violating gender norms and will be punished for it
Making their businesses statistically more likely to be smaller and fail
The research backs this up in ways that should make us all furious. Remember that study where VCs talked about entrepreneurs? Male entrepreneurs were described as “young and promising” and having “impressive competence.” Female entrepreneurs? “Young but inexperienced.” “Enthusiastic but weak.” “Good-looking and careless with money.”
Same pitches. Different gender labels. Completely different outcomes.
Women receive only 2.3% of venture capital funding. Only 32.6% of SBA loan approvals. They’re 5% less likely to get a bank loan and when they do, they pay higher interest rates.
But Here’s What They Don’t Tell You
Now, before you think this is all doom and gloom, let me share some good news.
Women are absolutely crushing it in terms of growth. From 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses grew at nearly DOUBLE the rate of men-owned businesses. Revenue grew by 54%. Women now own 39% of all U.S. businesses and employ over 11 million people.
Women are proving we can do this.
BUT—and this is a massive BUT—the labels and biases are STILL costing us money:
Lower revenues (46% of women-owned businesses earn $50K+ vs 70% of men’s)
Less profitability (38% vs 47%)
Fewer loan approvals
Smaller businesses
We’re starting businesses at twice the rate of men, but we’re still hitting invisible walls everywhere we turn.
The Answer We Deserve
You know those viral TikToks where someone says “women gave birth to all of them”? Here’s my entrepreneurship version: Who started businesses at double the rate in the last few years? Who pivots 32% more successfully during economic downturns? Who builds more resilient companies?
Women. Just women. Not “female entrepreneurs.” Not “mompreneurs.”
Just entrepreneurs.
What We Do Next
So here’s what I’m asking: Stop using these labels. When you see “female entrepreneur” or “mompreneur” in an article, call it out. When someone introduces you as a “female business owner,” correct them. You’re a business owner. Period.
The funding gap, the revenue gap, and the credibility gap will persist as long as we keep treating entrepreneurship as something men do and women do differently.
We’re not different. We’re not “other.” We’re not a special category that needs a modifier.
We’re entrepreneurs. End of story.
xx, Heather
P.S. All the research and statistics in this newsletter came from academic studies, government reports, and business research from sources including Harvard Business School, Stanford, World Bank, U.S. Census Bureau, Wells Fargo, and peer-reviewed journals. If you want specific citations, hit reply and I’ll send them your way.