As of late, some female entrepreneurs have shown a certain amount of disdain for the term “momprenuer”, and other “cutesy nicknames” as they call it. I won’t mention the exact articles because the point of this article is not to be construed as an “internet beef”. I do however want to make it clear that not all mompreneurs, SHE-E-Os, and Lady Bosses agree that these are labels detracting from who we are and what we are accomplishing. The argument put forth was that those terms are demeaning because no one ever calls a male entrepreneur a “dadpreneur” or a “guy boss”. Said article even goes on to say that the word entrepreneur derives from the Old French: to undertake an enterprise. Therefore subbing mom for entre suggests that mompreneurs are undertaking maternity. The article also declared that replacing “she” with chief implies that a woman doesn’t want to be at the top of her company, since that is what it means to be a chief.
First of all, call me Mompreneur, Lady Boss, SHE-E-O….all of it. Those are not labels downplaying my accomplishments. They are significant titles I wear with pride and here is why:
- I am and always will be mom, first and foremost.
The entire point of starting my own business was so that I could be the type of mom I wanted to be.
My children and family are my driving force. No matter what PR companies try to spin as as their family friendly corporate policy and their commitment to work life balance, the fact is that corporate America could care less about overnight fevers and mid-day show choir performances. To be perfectly honest it was the female managers/supervisors that I experienced as being the most inconsiderate of their employees’ mom duties. So calling myself Mompreneur is far from a cutesy nickname. It is my priority put on display. Being a mom isn’t an enterprise. It’s showing my children that they have a mom who picked them over a career or someone else’s title. It is my badge of choice that signifies I made the decision to do what’s best for my family. It’s a badge that I wear unapologetically.
- SHE-E-O me.
Everybody is entitled to live their life the way they want. Whether a person wants to change their gender, their skin color, their accent, their boobs, their hair….whatever…that is their choice. More power to them. And it is my choice that I choose not to be man. I am seriously not being funny. CEO is the abbreviation for Chief Executive Officer. A chief is male. An chieftess is female. I have never heard of a Chieftess Executive Officer. Using the same reasoning that the term mompreneur takes away from the enterprise of entrepreneurs, then SHE-E-O takes away the masculine connotation of CEO. Yes, it sounds completely petty and ridiculous. That’s exactly how I felt reading that stretch of an article. Sister business women (oh, that’s right, we call women in business, business women as opposed to “business” or business men), let’s all be great in our own way. If you don’t like being called SHE-E-O, then don’t answer to it. But do not devalue the significance of the title for others who embrace these power titles with all of the sass and authority of proven leaders.
- Fight The Right Fight
In our quest for equal rights, we must not forget our own strengths. As an African-American woman, I am very aware there are many battles for civil and equal rights that we fight daily. As we press for our history to be embraced, for our children to be treated more fairly than we have been treated, we NEVER relinquish the beauty of our culture. That means, we don’t lessen our African-American qualities and characteristics in order to be accepted. We push back against culture that wants to transform us into the traditional Euro-centric mold. In our fight to equality as women, we must learn to hold to that same principle. There is no shame in being female and embracing the most feminine things about us. We don’t have to be man-like to make our way. That’s conforming rather than trail blazing. Who cares if no one calls a man a dadpreneur or a guy boss. Without moms there would be no male CEOS. Without moms there would be no pioneers of anything. Without moms there would be no lifelong encouragement officers. Beyonce said it best, “Girls! We run the world!” So, while our contributions and sacrifices are not always applauded, that doesn’t make them any less impactful. In our fight for equality, let not lose the thing that sets us apart in the first place. Men and women are different. That doesn’t make men bad and it doesn’t make being a woman weak. It does, though, allow us to celebrate what men fully understand even if they aren’t always willing to admit: there is power in being feminine. Don’t allow the fight for equality cause us to lose who we have always been. Focus on the fruits of our labor and make sure to pick the right battles.