What do you think of terms like “boss babe”, “mom-trepeneur” or “she-EO”

[LittleRa]

I saw this post shared on Reddit and got me thinking about the use of these terms. Totally agree with what she is saying.

" Hi Guys". Insidious and cringeworthy.

I quite like "shero" smile. It's just the female version of hero without any condescending language.

I’ve always wondered why it was invented, when a word already exists. Heroine.

I don't mind generally, tbh. Though it did irritate me when a CBeebies cartoon I saw referred to football as 'soccer' throughout

Why? Soccer is a British term, counterpart of rugger; used to distinguish association football from rugby football. Perfectly normal word!

It makes me think of MLM bots or people who run a hobby business at craft fairs who are talking it up.

We don't have he-EOs or Dad-trepreneurs so why do we need to have the female version.

Boss babe etc are in the same category as when someone at work thinks that 'as a mum...' gives their opinion additional weight. The vast majority of the time the colleague's parental status does not add anything to the debate.

Gives me the cringes. Mumpreneur particularly...like being an entrepreneur (which in the correct sense most of those who use mumpreneur actually aren't, it's usually those running a MLM or selling stuff for pin money) is more special or unique because you are a woman with children. The women I know that use it are very attention seeking on social media anyway, it's just another thing to try and label yourself to try and seem special imo.

They make my teeth itch and mute whoever is daft enough to be posting in their efforts to flog me some pyramid scheme nonsense

I totally agree. It does seem that some women are personally empowered by them, but as a rule I consider them unhelpful. They’re ‘othering’, and they give the impression of women playing at business rather than simply working. We don’t need to create the impression that women are doing a female version of a male activity.

I dislike them, embarrassing. If you were really a CEO you’d never say anything like that. Or most successful entrepreneur would never call themselves a silly nickname to reduce their achievements. It also makes it sound in a way that a woman can’t be a regular entrepreneur/CEO etc.

The doctor one is a bit different I think. I have some bad health issues and if I ring my GP they often ask if I want to see the ‘lady doctor.’ I think it’s just because I have examinations and they want me to know I have the option of a female practitioner so I don’t mind that.

Although having read other replies it seems that these people who use ‘mum entrepreneur’ are selling for mlm schemes so I suppose it makes sense as they are marketing themselves to and trying to recruit other mums.

Now we have 'shero' which I find utterly absurd. If the feminine version of 'hero' is inferior to 'hero', why have we invented 'shero'?

It's absurd and shows a ridiculous disregard for etymology simply because of the coincidence of it starting with "he"

@NiceViper

I don't mind generally, tbh. Though it did irritate me when a CBeebies cartoon I saw referred to football as 'soccer' throughout

Why? Soccer is a British term, counterpart of rugger; used to distinguish association football from rugby football. Perfectly normal word!

In my experience, it's fallen out of common usage in the UK- rugby is just rugby. I've never heard it referred to as 'rugby football'. We have the FA- football association, not the soccer association. The UEFA cup (Union of European Football Associations) not UESA. We play five-a-side football, not five-a-side soccer. No kid in the school I teach at has gone to soccer club or soccer practice. Nowadays, soccer tends to be used by Americans in the main, to distinguish their football (our American football) from the British counterpart.

KatyClaire
You've got me thinking on the empowering thing. Do you think women find them genuinely empowering or do you think they are presenting a fake image of female empowerment because they know they need to recruit and bully their down lines into exploiting more people on their behalf?

These terms are so often used with MLM and MLMs seem to sell themselves as female empowerment organisations but really they just gaslight vulnerable women and profit off them.

Awful terms OP, nothing like referring to a woman who is a doctor as a female doctor or a woman doctor.

@LolaSmiles good question. I think it can be quite intoxicating - there is a cultural aspect whereby other people (almost always women themselves) respond positively to social media content tagged with these terms, so there is the instant gratification of getting likes and comments from an apparently supportive group. But those likes and comments come specifically because it’s so easy to do, so beyond the initial serotonin rush of attention it’s very empty. I doubt many women obtain genuine long term empowerment (in the sense of financial security, respect, self-esteem, opportunities etc) from it. It’s all just artifice.

That, incidentally, is one of the reasons I quit social media myself. I wasn’t part of this #bossbabe community but I found myself getting caught up in the need for likes and comments, and caring more about instagramming my life than enjoying it. I deleted my accounts a couple of years ago and I feel so much healthier for it. I know that’s a slightly separate issue, but it’s related I think. It’s very easy to become consumed by the appearance of something over the reality.

In my experience, it's fallen out of common usage in the UK- rugby is just rugby. I've never heard it referred to as 'rugby football'. We have the FA- football association, not the soccer association. The UEFA cup (Union of European Football Associations) not UESA. We play five-a-side football, not five-a-side soccer. No kid in the school I teach at has gone to soccer club or soccer practice. Nowadays, soccer tends to be used by Americans in the main, to distinguish their football (our American football) from the British counterpart

Its's the RFU Rugby Football Union - ka rugger or rugby

And the Soccer comes from the word 'Association' in UEFA.

It's to distinguish those two British games

And yes, people do still talk about soccer - not least Topps who make Match Attax cards

Why? Soccer is a British term, counterpart of rugger; used to distinguish association football from rugby football. Perfectly normal word

It is referred to as football in Britain, that's why. Nobody refers to football as soccer. Same way that as rocket is not arugala.

Same way that rocket is not arugala.

And yes, people do still talk about soccer - not least Topps who make Match Attax cards

No, they really don't. I live in Liverpool and football is most definitely football, or just 'the game'

"Mumpreneur" is the modern term for 'woman being poorly paid for piece work without the protection of employment law'.

I agree that some people don't use it, but it's a bit of a snare to think 'I don't so it must be an Americanism - see many threads passim about Mum/Mom and gotten/got)

Iit's a perfectly normal term for many. And it is indeed the parallel of rocket, as it is completely British originated term (dating back to the late 1800s) and still in common use, even if not in your circles; eg The Guardian uses it (but not usually the redtops) and it is dotted round all over the place)

Our political discourse is shaped by many different issues and concerns, and by a different history. They are not inter-changeable with U.S discourse.This U.S take-over is almost like a form of cultural colonialism - largely mediated by American social media platforms and streaming services.

Agree - there is an assumption that we are like them because we speak the same language, so our left wing and right wing are equivalent to their left wing and right wing. This really harms political discourse.

I have never heard a UK person refer to football as anything other than football. Ever.

I use the term supper for the evening meal, got that from my parents. What meals are called varies massively across the UK.

People don't use heroine probably because at some point (old films from USA?) heroine came to refer to the pretty young probably scantily clad woman who got rescued by the hero. Right or wrong I suppose that's why shero. Having said that. As with actor being used for both sexes now. Hero works just fine for women and girls and it's used plenty on the news etc.

@EmpressWitchDoesntBurn

BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of colour) doesn’t work in the UK. Indigenous makes sense in the US or Australia, for instance, but here it means... what? People who can trace their lineage back to the tribes who were around before the Roman Conquest?

Anyone who speaks Welsh/Cornish/Gaelic.

The rest are Anglo-Saxon colonists!

Anyone who speaksWelsh/Cornish/Gaelic

You're not serious are you? "Indigenous people" is a nonsensical concept in the context of the UK. I have heard it used by the very odd and very rare extremist but it's insulting to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas , Australia and New Zealand to appropriate it.

"Soccer" for football is very rarely used. It might be used by commentators during international tournaments but no one talks about going to "the soccer"