Uber driver hits out at sexist questioning from male passengers
A young Brisbane Uber driver says she is sick of being questioned about her “courage” at work and putting up with insulting behaviour from “well dressed, former private school boys”.
Bridget Dominic recently returned to Brisbane and began driving for the ride-sharing service as a way to earn extra money.
She says she loves the job but took to Facebook with a lengthy statement of a grievances centering around the “3/4 of all the passengers” asking her if she gets scared, harassed by creeps or told by men they would never allow their wives or daughters to do her job.
“But every time I've been treated like absolute garbage it's exclusively been by young, well dressed, former private school boys,” Ms Dominic wrote.
“How do I know they went to a private school? Because they all have the same routine of commenting on my appearance then asking me what school I went to.”
She went on to recount a recent job in which such a group of men had hailed her car before embarking on a detailed commentary on her looks.
“They got in the car, gave me their entirely unwelcome opinion of my looks (I'm hot but I don't look as good as my picture because believe it or not, I don't like to wear a face full of makeup when I'm driving drunks around at 2 am),” the February 5 post read.
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“These men in their 30s had been to a family friend's 18th and were disappointed that there weren't more 'slutty, young girls’.”
They then complained that the young partygoers had all passed out, while another suggested that was an ideal situation.
Other customers had asked her if she feared being raped which was “a really inappropriate thing to say to someone's face" she told the Brisbane Times.
Ms Dominic’s post continued saying she loved her job but she understood she needed to be realistic as to the risks to her car, her personal safety or her driver’s rating.
“But we, as women, too often have to stay silent in order to preserve our safety,” she wrote.
“All I ask is that the next time you meet a female driver (or security guard, or soldier, or police officer) instead of asking them where they found the courage to participate in such an unsafe profession, find the courage in yourself to have a frank conversation with the men in your life about the way they treat women.”
She told Fairfax Media she was considering signing up for a women’s only ridesharing app due to launch soon but would continue to drive for Uber, saying the problem was not about ridesharing apps but the attitudes of some men.
