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.

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30 points
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Lately we seem to be going backwards in equality. Men are getting shat on, especially those that haven’t even committed the atrocities they are being punished for.

Why pick and choose who can use the feature to request gender. Make it fair and allow everyone or none.

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14 points

There’s a lot to unpack here…

But mostly I suggest you learn about the difference in equity and equality.

Equality (what you are arguing for) is treating people the same.

Equity (what this feature promotes) is giving people what they need to be successful.

Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help. Equity appears unfair, but it actively moves everyone closer to success by “leveling the playing field.”

Equity involves trying to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full, successful lives. Equality, in contrast, aims to give everyone the same thing, which does not work to create a more equal society, only to preserve the status quo, in the presence of systemic inequalities.

Given that violent crime in the ride share industry is committed almost universally by men and disproportionately against women, this feature aims to provide equity to support more women as both riders and drivers.

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16 points

Now, I dare you to apply the same logic to black driver vs. white.

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-3 points
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Sure.

Are black drivers disproportionately affected by problems in the ride share industry? Yes. Let’s fix that!

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2 points

this feature aims to provide equity to support more women as both riders and drivers.

it aims to provide equity, but through a really shitty and half-assed method that results in systemic discrimination

Lyft could be vetting their drivers, taking a hardline approach on drivers which are reported, a trusted driver program, etc, anything that would actually be protecting vulnerable people from abusers, but instead went with the easiest most simple minded approach (which also doesn’t protect any vulnerable men) because they have no problem treating their drivers like shit

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0 points
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-4 points

Why not just not allow men to be drivers? Problem solved, equity maximized.
Neither “equality” nor “equity” involve any amount of equality, equity, fairness, nor justice of any kind. They’re all hot garbage.
What people need is freedom and liberty maximized, and artificial barriers removed. And don’t expect equal outcomes.

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-4 points

Equity is antithetical to equality. They are oppositional ideals. Either you aim to provide equal opportunity for everyone, or you intentionally limit opportunity to ensure equal outcomes. Democracy and multiculturalism is premised on equality. It seeks to ensure the right of different groups to behave differently and arrive at different outcomes. For example, Asian high-school students spend significantly more time studying and doing homework than any other ethnic or racial group. You can verify these stats yourself by going to the cited source. Unsurprisingly, this group earns more, has higher employment, and lower crime.

Equity, on the other hand, is authoritarian. To use the example above, it means either forcing Asian children to study less, or forcing children of other ethnicities to study more. There is no room for cultural differences or free expression. Equity is only achievable under an authoritarian system, because in order to achieve it, it requires ensuring every child has exactly the same experience in life. The same amount of homework. The same schools. The same friends and family. The same sports and extracurricular activities. The same hobbies. They must study the same subjects in school and universities. It requires complete homogeneity. No modern society wants this, and the use of the term “equity” is deeply alarming to anyone who considers themselves democratic or liberal in the classical sense.

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5 points

Right. And don’t forget to address the issue of them all being differently situated as a starting condition. You’ll have to kneecap some and put others on wheels.

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4 points

Lol no.

Equity in this case is providing additional opportunities for education to those who need it.

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-18 points

Men have it so hard! 😔

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-21 points

Its not punishment. Its making the playing field equal.

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29 points

It’s not equal if it gives special treatment to one but not both. Why can’t I request a specific driver as a man. What if I don’t feel safe with a woman driver based on stereotypes like the woman and trans passengers are. If they assume the male driver is going to make comments or passes at them then I as a male passenger should be able to assume the woman driver might be bad and get me in an accident.

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2 points

To be fair, the only thing wrong with it is that it doesn’t have an option for males

And based on another comment, it doesn’t let you pick a driver, rather it lets you pick the same gender as yourself.

So the option probably should be available, and would only allow a male to request another male.

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-4 points

There are thousands of sexual assaults on ride share apps every year which disproportionately affect women so the current system is not equal. We’re talking about the difference between equal outcomes and equal treatment.

https://imgur.com/9tmxW07

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-6 points

Absolute brickheaded response

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-7 points

Statistics and rational thought is not on your side here. You just come off as incredibly unempathetic. Imagine being so butthurt of something not revolving around yourself that you get angry at a feature that will increase the safety of other people.

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16 points

How is this equal when men are explicitly excluded…?

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-6 points

Women and non-binary people gain more safety from this. What are men going to gain from a feature letting them have only male drivers?

It’s such an incredible dumb thing to be mad about.

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1 point

What “playing field” are you talking about, what is unequal, and what does this do to supposedly equalize this… playing field?

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-1 points

Violent attacks like sexual assault are disproportionately done my male drivers upon non-male passengers. Why do you not see how this is unequal?

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