Empowerment Doesn't Equal Entrepreneurship
a.tiredfeminist
“She rolls 500 papads a day in a one-room house.”
“Runs a bangle stall to raise three kids alone.” “Turned her kitchen into an empire.”
We see these headlines all the time. Shared with hashtags like #WomenEmpowerment. Framed like a fairytale: She rose from nothing. She's unstoppable. She's a warrior.
But here's a tired little truth: Not every woman wants to be unstoppable. Some just want to rest. Some just want a job that pays. Some don't want to be a business at all.
The Problem with These “Success Stories”
The problem isn't the woman selling pickles. It's how society treats that pickle jar as a sign of empowerment — instead of asking why that was her only option.
We glorify her “enterprise” and ignore the collapse around her:
- No access to childcare
- No formal jobs in her area
- No financial cushion or social security
- And definitely no support if she fails
We love to post “Support women-led businesses!” But we never ask, “Why was this woman forced to turn her home into a shop to begin with?”
When Struggle Becomes a Branding Exercise
Here's what we do: We wrap poverty in pastel. We sell her survival as ambition. We make her hustle look cute — like it was a Pinterest plan, not a structural failure.
We don't talk about exhaustion. The health risks. The fact that she's doing this after unpaid care work. We ignore the unpaid labour that makes the paid one possible.
We reduce empowerment to:
- Owning a stitching machine
- Selling mehendi cones on the weekend
- Learning digital marketing through a YouTube video
- Registering for a ₹10,000 micro-loan that demands repayment in 30 days, interest included
But we never talk about maternity leave. Mental health. Safety. Legal rights. Wage theft. Or rest.
Reality Check: Applauding the Symptom, Ignoring the Disease 🤒
We call this empowerment, but here's the real picture:
- 31.7% is India's female labour force participation rate (2023-24), far below the G20 average.
- Over 90% of women workers are in the informal sector, lacking contracts, job security, and social protections.
- Less than 1% of women are formal entrepreneurs; most run home-based, solo ventures with no hired workers.
- 1 in 3 self-employed women earns less than ₹10,000/month, with earnings fluctuating due to seasonal work, health challenges, and unpaid care responsibilities.
- According to the 6th Economic Census, about 83% of women-owned businesses in India are micro-enterprises with no hired workers.
- Less than 10% of women entrepreneurs have access to institutional credit, with many relying on informal lending or Self-Help Groups (SHGs) that often impose high repayment pressure.
Why do we keep calling it empowerment when it's just the prettiest way to survive?
Empowerment isn't a photo op.
Yes, some women choose entrepreneurship — and they should be celebrated. But many women are cornered into it.
Not because they're inspired, but because no one hired them. Not because they're passionate, but because there's no affordable daycare nearby. Not because they “love being their own boss,” but because there is no boss who would ever consider them.
Empowerment is access. It's options. It's dignity. It's the right to work — or not work. To sell pickles — or sit and eat them in peace.
Until then, let's stop wrapping women's survival in empowerment filters. Let's stop celebrating the jar without questioning the hunger.
