"HURRAY...YOU WON AN AWARD..." was shouted at me across the playground one afternoon while I was collecting the children from school.
I looked around to see a very sweet grandad of my daughter’s friend stood in line clapping and beaming a huge smile beneath his surgical mask!
Slightly embarrassed I went over and thanked him, he had seen on the internet BabyBeats®️ had won an Award with Enterprise UK and was genuinely pleased for us... he then went on to say "it’s amazing what you Mumtrepreneurs can do these days...."
"..............erm............."
So.... he meant this in a genuine way and that we should be proud of what we are achieving but that turn of phrase boils my blood.... yes, we are Mums but the term seems to allude to the fact that this is some small business we are running while our children are at school and the dads are out at work.
Because there is no Dadtrepreneur.... Dads are still business men and still entrepreneurs.... but as soon as a Woman who is also a Mother decides to take her finances and her career into her own hands, we get this label. Is this title meant to empower us or patronise us?
It is even pending in the Collins dictionary!
mumtrepreneur
New Word Suggestion
a woman who combines running a business enterprise with looking after her children
Additional Information
Word Origin from mum and entrepreneur
As a business owner and a Mother I don't see the correlation between the two and therefore any need for a special title just because I have well working reproductive organs. This shouldn't inhibit the fact I can make as much or better income as a male entrepreneur (whether he is a father or not is irrelevant and never disclosed!)
Men and women in the work place should be treated as equal no matter their gender, race, sexuality or parental status, so until we stop dividing people by sexist stereotypes like these then we aren't moving forward to a more equal and diverse workspace.
