This article examines discourses of patriarchy and femininity in representations of Indian women entrepreneurs in the popular Indian print media. Through critical discourse analysis of data consisting of 46 articles, the article examines the subtle positioning of Indian women entrepreneurs in language that is at once restraining and indicative of empowerment and independence. The analysis illustrates media stance as ambivalent and ambiguous with Indian women portrayed as traditional and modern, passive and proactive, dependent and independent. The resistive stance of women entrepreneurs provides the oppositional discourse of difference termed the discourses of `being' and `becoming'1 based on Deleuze and Guattari's (1987) notion of `becoming'. I conclude the article by accentuating that a critical reading practice is required to identify stereotypes and tease out discourses that illustrate transformative practices.
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