News Flash : Driving Harassment Away?

   I stumbled upon the article I’ve chosen to write about by sheer luck. I was sitting on the couches outside of our Women’s Studies classroom, flipping through this month’s “Bust” magazine issue. I’d never heard of this publication but I decided to read on. I skimmed the glossy pages until my attention was caught by a photo of brilliantly pink taxi cabs lining an urban street. The title of the article below the photograph read: “Sex Drive: Mexico’s Pink Taxis Give Women a Ride on the Safer Side” by Liza Monroy. I’m immediately intrigued. As I continue to read I learn that these pink taxis are a newfound effort by women in Puebla, Mexico to combat male sexual harassment, specifically that which occurs between taxi drivers and young women. This article is clearly praising the movement, and is condoning its message. But briefly in the final paragraph, skepticism arises. This skepticism is in line with that of Allan G. Johnson and other more radical feminists who see working “within” the system as a remarkable waste of time. The nay-sayers in this article are of the opinion that, though a valiant effort, these taxis are merely sugar coating the ever present issue of male chauvinism in Mexico, instead of combating it head on. I found Johnson’s article to be one of the more profound essays I have ever read, and therefore must align with the nay-sayers in Monroy’s article on this particular issue. I do believe the pink taxis are an innovative and helpful idea. But they act as more of a “bandaid” than an actual solution. They are helping a situation gravely in need of attention, but it’s not a permanent solution to the problem of harassment.
The Pink Taxi Company is privately owned and is currently operating only in Puebla, Mexico’s 4th largest city. A female drives each taxi and they will only pick up females. The taxis have a GPS, a satellite tracking system and a panic button which contacts police authorities directly. The drivers of the taxis are just as well equipped as their vehicles. Each female driver must undergo extensive training in order to prepare for this job. The training includes 180 hours of defensive driving, self-defense, first aid and basic mechanics. The women employed by the Pink Taxi Company are not only happy about this new steady job opportunity, but they are also proud of their work as they feel that they are doing a service to their community. “Rocio Nava, 35, one of more than 60 women the company employs says, ‘it gives women trust to know that another woman is driving’”(Monray,2010). The female drivers also feel empowered as they break into a heavily male dominated field. A woman who was interviewed in the article stated, “I was eager to use pink taxi, not only because its safer, but also as a way to support other women who are trying to improve their economic situation”(Monray,2010).

The establishment of the Pink Taxi Company was brought on by a tremendous increase in complaints of sexual harassment by male taxi drivers. In Mexico the notion of “Machismo”, or excessive masculinity and chauvinism, is prevalent. A 17 year old student living in Puebla stated, “Mexico is going through a difficult time; insecurity is part of our lives”(Monroy, 2010). But with the establishment of this company has come a rise in awareness of the issue. Though it isn’t directly reprimanding the harassers it is inadvertently hurting them through a monetary medium. The popularity of the pink taxis is growing drastically and they plan to raise the number of cars from 35 to 300 by the end of this year.
The merit of this company is undeniable. But where can this effort really take us next? The company can grow to meet the demands of the women, but then all we end up accomplishing is a gender divide. If we continue following this route then all the females will ride home in pink taxis and all the males in the yellow taxis. Doesn’t that feel as if we’re going backwards instead of forwards? Many women’s rights activists are espousing this idea. “Painting a cab pink and putting a woman behind the wheel does not address the larger issue of sexual harassment… the city should do a better job weeding out harassers”(Monray, 2010).
This article is a clear example of the current debate amongst gender-equality activists of whether or not it is effective and most productive to work inside or outside the system. In Johnson’s essay he concludes that these issues will never be resolved unless we rework the system, as we know it. I believe he would see this pink taxis as arbitrary, as a sugar coating on a bitterly painful issue.

“That’s the path of least resistance in any system. Its hard not to follow it, given how we depend on society and its rewards and punishments that hinge on going along with the status quo. When privilege and oppression are woven into the fabric of everyday life, we don’t need to go out of our way to be overtly oppressive for a system of privilege to produce oppressive consequences, for, as Edmund Burke tells us, evil requires only that good people do nothing”(Johnson, 2000).
Johnson notes how deep seeded these notions are embedded in society. Though these cabs have the façade of combating this issue, they are in fact facilitating the very system that promoted their establishment. In a sense these women are running (or should I say driving?) away from the issue at hand.

If we want to be equals we cant hide from the issue. We have to face it. Before we pour money into cures we must ask ourselves what is the cause. At the root of the problem is where we will find our answers. After reading Johnson’s article I’ve realized that our society gives far too much credit to nature. Too often is the claim made that a behavior, practice, or tendency is “natural”. I’m no longer willing to accept the excyse: “ That’s just the way men are”. It’s almost embarrassing that I’ve fallen for that patriarchal myth for so long. The truth is men are they way they are because we let them be that way. There are not enough pink taxis in the world to make up for every woman who has been harassed on her way home. I don’t believe the Pink Taxi Company should be done away with; its merits are tangible and can continue to be a safe haven for women during this long journey to freedom from oppression. But this company’s helpfulness should not be confused as a solution with permanence. The invention of bandaids didn’t stop people from getting cuts and bruises. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need a bandaid to heal our wounds, just like we wouldn’t need pink taxis to feel safe on the way home.