“Who’s that girl?” The entrepreneur as a super(wo)man

Abstract

Gender and entrepreneurship research emphasize the masculine symbolic domain of entrepreneurial practices, but mostly neglects to analyze the gender complexity of doing entrepreneurship. This article examines entrepreneurial femininities as constructed and performed by Italian women. Theoretically, it employs postfeminism as a globalized discourse to offer a nuanced reading of the relationship between gender inequalities, entrepreneurship, and postfeminism. Through the analysis of 51 interviews with entrepreneurs, the paper explores how postfeminist ideals and discourses (the “super(wo)man” who is “free” to choose) are adapted to reflect the Italian cultural context. In doing so, it discusses how these women manage the coexistence of feminist (i.e., autonomy, empowerment) and anti-feminist (i.e., traditional division of household labour) expectations concerning women’s place in work and society.