Many companies talk a big game about supporting women, but few companies walk the walk like Google is: Google Maps will now give you slightly better directions if you’re menstruating.
Yup, Google has officially earned its feminist bonafides! Your move, Apple Maps!
Earlier today, Google Maps formally rolled out Menstrual Reroutes, a new feature that lets female users disclose when they’re menstruating in exchange for marginally better directions, which the tech giant says will save travellers in menses “around three to four minutes of transit time on average.” Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained via press release that the period-conscious Maps update, applies to all methods of travel, meaning drivers on their period will be rerouted down somewhat quicker roads just as menstruators on foot will see their walking directions take a subtly-but-technically more direct path towards their destination.
“Maps knows on-the-go is the last place you want to be when you’re on-the-flow, and that’s why we’re helping menstruators get where they’re going kind of sooner with directions unavailable to non-menstruators,” wrote Pichai. “If there are no faster routes than the one you’re on, we will send Maps commuters ahead of you down a wrong turn, because even if it only saves you a minute or two of travel time, Google believes women are worth it.”
Google is now promoting Menstrual Reroutes on billboards across the country, featuring photos of women in transit following Maps directions while sorting through a bag of menstrual hygiene products in the passenger seat, freebleeding through their pants on the bus, and trailing blood down a bike path, accompanied by copy showing decreased travel times like “23 min 20 min: Now shortening your time on the road at that time of the month.”
Wow. If you’re a menstruator en route, Google’s throwing you a nice bone here!
What a powerful gesture Google Maps is making towards women across the world—and we have to give them props for being so upfront about how their directions only get slightly better when you’re menstruating. In our patriarchal society, slightly better is a step forward nonetheless – we’ll take it!
