Amid a sea of traffic that relentlessly fills the streets of Tehran, Iran, women are seizing an economic opportunity they never had before–an opportunity similar to one for which their counterparts in Saudi Arabia are now fighting. After the government started issuing taxi licenses to women, women are slowly but surely getting behind the wheel and experiencing the advantages of this potentially lucrative profession.
Following several months of being away from Iran, I visited its capital Tehran, eagerly anticipating the hustle and bustle of the sprawling city. Hopping in a taxi one day, I looked at the traffic around me and was quietly shocked at the number of green taxis navigating the roads. I thought the color green, made famous by the 2009 presidential campaign of Mir Hossein Mousavi and the ensuing post-election protests, imparted a political statement. The driver corrected my misunderstanding and pointed out that the rise in number of green taxis had nothing to do with politics, and that the only rebellion happening in the Iranian taxi culture is that women are now becoming paid drivers.
