# Reading Response 3

## April 13
Recently the term "girlboss" has been used to describe young female entrepreneurs and business owners. Personally, this term never sat well with me for a number of reasons. Why can't women just be bosses? Why do we call them "girl" bosses when they are fully-grown, independent women? In their 2017 study Brooke Erin Duffy and Ursula Pruchniewska address the unique challenges women face in online entrepreneurship/business. Although being independently employed offers women freedom to pursue their passions for profit the benefits come at a cost. The same unequal standards for women in traditional business environments exist for independently employed women on the internet. Some examples include being compelled to keep a soft feminine image/presence, intimate relationship building, and compulsory visibility. Duffy and Pruchniewska call this phenomenon the "digital double bind." While male entrepreneurs on the internet let their business/products speak for themselves, women are held to higher standards. Not only do their business/products have to be marketable, so does the women in charge of the business. In the conclusion of their study Duffy and Pruchniewska explain how masculine norms surrounding business and entrepreneurship affect women, writing: "masculine norms surrounding self-enterprise mean that female entrepreneurs are ‘othered’ simply through their participation in a male-coded system." Duffy and Pruchniewska's article explains why girlboss has become popular. Due to masculine norms in entrepreneurship and the business world, female bosses are seen as 'others' and do not belong. The system does not equate boss with woman, leading to terms like girlboss that keep them on the outside.