Why I hate the term Mompreneur

I hate it.  It makes my blood boil and I turn all red and fidgety deciding if I am going to start an argument about it in that moment.

I hate it because we don’t use the term Dadpreneur.  We normalize a 1940’s stereotype of Moms being responsible for the home and kids and Dads expecting to go off and bring home the bacon.  Except it’s 2016, and moms work, and dads work and some work multiple jobs, and some families only have moms or only have dads.

When we use the term Mompreneur we’re actually putting down Dads at the same time as well as devaluing the Mothers’ business from any form of authenticity as a business.  We’re telling Dads that we just assume they aren’t parenting as much, or taking care of the home as much and therefore the business they’re running, no matter how big or small, is vastly more important than their child’s Mothers’ business.  We’re telling Moms that no matter how big and successful your business gets you’re not really a REAL entrepreneur, you’re playing a mom activity that might be garnering some level of success.

I just read an article about two young women in Montreal, sisters, who started what has turned into quite a successful little chain of local salad restaurants.  They started the business at 22 and 26 years old.  Ten years later, 3 locations and five new lives among them they have now been called Mompreneurs…which makes no sense because they started their business before they were even moms…  So they were entrepreneurs but now it’s a little less about the business and a little more about their reproductive state.

I have no kids, so I really don’t know why this bothers me so much.  Any business I choose to start will be recognized as an entrepreneurial endeavour and I its lead entrepreneur. Unless of course my uterus gets involved, then I will be instantly downgraded to mompreneur while said imaginary child’s father keeps his status even though he will also be changing diapers, mopping floors and generally trying to raise a decent human being.

Let’s give Moms and Dads and Entrepreneurs (with or without child) the kudos they deserve for taking a chance, putting their livelihood on the line and trying to bring the economy new and innovative businesses!