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By Aisha Gawad January 26, 2010 My inner feminist is confused. As elan reported last week, Kuwait has just introduced a new ladies-only taxi service. The Pepto-Bismol pink cars are driven exclusively by women and only accept female customers, catering to Kuwaiti women who are sick of being harassed on the streets by male drivers.  Many of the pink taxis come equipped with mirrors and magazines, so ladies can read how best to apply their lip gloss and practice while they are on the go. (If you can’t tell, I think this aspect of the taxi service is slightly moronic).  Kuwait is not the first country to introduce such an idea. There are women-only taxi services (all of them pink) in Britain, Syria, Lebanon and Mexico. The service appeals to religiously conservative women who don’t want to be alone with a male driver as well as women who fear sexual harassment from men on the streets. There are already women-only buses and trains in places like Egypt, Japan, Brazil and India. On first inspection, ladies-only transportation sounds like it makes sense. But what message do these taxis and train cars send? That the only way to keep women safe from pervert men is to segregate them from the rest of society? That female isolation is the solution? That men just can’t help themselves if a woman is around? Sure, giving women the option to segregate themselves makes their daily commutes easier and possibly safer, but it doesn’t do anything to address the problem at its root. In full disclosure, I must admit when I am in Egypt, I ride the women-only tram cars exclusively. And if there was a female taxi service, I would probably use that, too. I know it’s not exactly feminist of me, but I don’t feel safe in the mixed-gender tram cars. That’s the sad and simple truth. Heck, if there were women-only sidewalks in Egypt, I would definitely take a stroll on those. If you’ve ever experienced the harassment in Egypt, you would, too. The point is, while I use the female-only transportation options, I don’t feel good about it. I don’t feel any more respected as a woman because I segregate myself to avoid being groped. Perhaps ladies-only transportation is a temporary fix to an immediate danger, but it cannot be a permanent solution. The fact that as societies we need these services at all should be a signal that we have serious problems about the way we view gender and equality. Contact the author: Email: aisha.gawad@gmail.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/ArabRaptor http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/ladies_only_transportation_feminism_or_segregation-nid190774377/