Lyft is introducing a new feature that lets women and non-binary riders choose a preference to match with drivers of the same gender.
The ride-hailing company said it was a “highly requested feature” in a blog post Tuesday, saying the new feature allows women and non-binary people to “feel that much more confident” in using Lyft and also hopefully encourage more women to sign up to be drivers to access its “flexible earning opportunities.”
The service, called “Women+ Connect,” is rolling out in the coming months. Riders can turn on the option in the Lyft app, however the company warns that it’s not a guarantee that they’ll be matched with a women or non-binary person if one of those people aren’t nearby. Both the riders and drivers will need to opt-in to the feature for it work and riders must chose a gender for it to work.
Lyft announces new feature: Separate, but equal.
Let’s see how this plays out for them.
The nearest university to me has a gender ratio of 60% women to 40% men, and yet they have publicly boasted that they give preference and scholarships to women to boost their enrollment.
Giving preference to the most overrepresented group has not attracted any negative press.
Most employers will have an “equal opportunity” clause on the footer of their website that notes that they give preference to women.
Those employers are not suffering from lawsuits, sanctions, or lost business.
No one seems to care that the goal of these programs and their explicit policies contradict.
The news had a story about a man who sued his school for gender discrimination because they gave preference to women despite being majority women already- the anchor and the journalist on the ground both talked negatively about him and basically accused him of being a bigot.
Sexism will probably play out well for them, unfortunately.