Some female founders want to shake off the gender identifiers and be called just “founders,” like men are. Gendered labels, such as “female founder,” “women in tech,” “female entrepreneur,” “woman scientist,” or “lady boss,” are very often used to celebrate the accomplishments of women in male-dominated spaces, such as the tech ecosystem. But to some women, these labels perpetuate the idea that women are exceptions to the norm, rather than equal participants in their professional fields.
Some of the founders who share this sentiment are shunning opportunities to be featured in stories that highlight only the achievements of women because they worry about being othered. Turning down my request to have her featured on a women-only list of founders, a female founder rhetorically asked me, “How often do you see men being called male founders? How many lists of male founders have you written?” She refused to be featured in the story even after I…
