Submission + - TSA Gender Bias in Millimeter Wave Scanner 1
Ghosthorseman writes: Today, my wife took United flight 304 from DFW in Dallas to IAD in Virginia. She elected not to use the millimeter wave scanner, and instead to be patted down. This is something I tend to do, and being male, I've never had to wait for an agent to arrive. But my wife was told that there were no women available to pat her down, and that she would have to wait.
She was moved a little to the side, and told to wait in traffic as folks passed. It was an uncomfortable position to be in, and after 15 minutes, no agent had yet arrived. So ultimately my wife felt compelled to go through the wave scanner to get out of everyone's way, and to get to her flight on time.
I'm furious. It's not because the wave scanner presents some sort of terrible danger. But if you're presented with a choice, it should be an honest choice. Waiting an inordinate amount of time, in people's way, with the clock ticking on your departure, is not a fair alternative. Maybe I drink the Kool-aid a little bit on this wave scanner. But making alternatives extremely inconvenient is a devious way of removing all choice.
Maybe more importantly, there apparently was a gender bias at play here. It's hard to believe that there was not a female security agent in all of DFW that could pat down my wife. But apparently a male pat down was available.
To make things worse, there was some kind of glitch in the machine and she had to go through it twice. My wife left teary eyed and scrambling to her flight. As a traveler myself, I'm frustrated that the pat-down option is, or can be made into, a false choice for flyers. As a husband, I'm upset that my wife was treated unfairly and embarrassed.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Can the TSA create alternatives that don't work and still say they give travelers a choice? What recourse do we have to change things?
She was moved a little to the side, and told to wait in traffic as folks passed. It was an uncomfortable position to be in, and after 15 minutes, no agent had yet arrived. So ultimately my wife felt compelled to go through the wave scanner to get out of everyone's way, and to get to her flight on time.
I'm furious. It's not because the wave scanner presents some sort of terrible danger. But if you're presented with a choice, it should be an honest choice. Waiting an inordinate amount of time, in people's way, with the clock ticking on your departure, is not a fair alternative. Maybe I drink the Kool-aid a little bit on this wave scanner. But making alternatives extremely inconvenient is a devious way of removing all choice.
Maybe more importantly, there apparently was a gender bias at play here. It's hard to believe that there was not a female security agent in all of DFW that could pat down my wife. But apparently a male pat down was available.
To make things worse, there was some kind of glitch in the machine and she had to go through it twice. My wife left teary eyed and scrambling to her flight. As a traveler myself, I'm frustrated that the pat-down option is, or can be made into, a false choice for flyers. As a husband, I'm upset that my wife was treated unfairly and embarrassed.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Can the TSA create alternatives that don't work and still say they give travelers a choice? What recourse do we have to change things?
