The Controversy of Female Taxi Driving

In a country that enforces sexes segregation and compels certain rules that overtake womens' emancipation, Iranian females seek for an independent lifestyle and financial success by having their own career, since they have been able to manipulate gender segregation. Recently, many women compete against men in the transportation field and specifically as Taxi drivers.

“The Right Stuff” article by Mindy Kay Bricker, reveals how female taxi drivers in Iran combat life's obstacles through their exotic career in order to enhance their financial statuses. Since Iran has its own taxi driving company for female passengers, the company receives an average of 2,500 calls each day and this shows the successful view of the public towards the idea of female taxi driving. Women in Iran endeavor to own their independence and their own prestige in living, even though the rate of women unemployment is high.



Women have their negative perspective about taxi driving and they do feel inferior towards men, especially since they are degraded in the eyes of the opposite gender. However, the reason behind this mentality relates to the stereotypical society itself and the idea of men being superior towards women. It is true that women are more exposed to harm or danger, especially during night shifts. They can easily be abducted or physically abused from any passenger or a random person in the street. But with absolute care, women can thrive as men do and even better. Zahra Farjami is a successful woman in the career of taxi driving. She stated that once she started working as a taxi driver, she realized that women could earn more then men. It seems that the goal for prosperity is the motivation behind womens' determination. Even though men are the masters of the family, some women earn more than their husband’s do. Zahra earns almost $10000 per year exceeding her husband’s earnings. And similarly works with Soltani, another successful female taxi driver, who claimed, “Driving a cab affords her the luxury of not needing to remarry.”

Finally, I am a supportive of womens' rights and I believe that women should defend their own choices, especially women in Iran. I think that the elaborateness of Iran’s government is considered an obstacle towards women rights, but it shouldn’t be the barrier for them to embrace the taste of success and independence, because the equality between women and men is essential in life. Therefore, each gender would gain equal rights and opportunities in life.