When Gender Meets Uber: A Ride Full of Irony

Uber just announced a new “Women’s Preference” program — an opt-in feature for female riders who want to be matched only with female drivers. A nice idea, right?

Well, here’s the kicker: Uber also has a gender declaration form for drivers, which allows men to identify as women… and that’s it. No additional checks. So, theoretically, any dude named Dave can identify as Danielle and be eligible to pick up women-only riders.

So let me get this straight — Uber’s safety solution for women is a filter that can be bypassed with a single dropdown menu?

If the goal is to make things safer for women, maybe — and hear me out — step one shouldn’t be “let Dave pick a new pronoun.