ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emergence of the mumpreneur and women's take-up and response to the entrepreneurial identity. Much of the research on female entrepreneurship has focused on the presence of women within the entrepreneurial field examining their 'unique' experience as business owners. Femininity as traditionally understood – passive, dependent, supportive of men, attractive to men, infantile – was something women were compelled to perform and acted to signal women's subordinate position in relation to men. Postfeminism is a useful frame for exploring this reconfiguration of femininity as it encapsulates the cultural logic and the various factors that contribute to the reshaping of the feminine in contemporary times. At first glance, the emergence of the mumpreneur can be connected to the long-standing view that a key reason women set up a business is to secure flexibility around the performance of domestic and childcare responsibilities.
