New Dubai and - deeply uncomfortable

[UnderTheStairs51]

There seems to be a new ad promoting Dubai as a holiday destination.

The one that starts and ends with 'swim first'.

I have been sad enough to pause it and hands are bare of rings walking through the market so no indication they are a married couple.

You'd run a risk to behave in the way shown on a public beach surely. They are not in swimming gear so what's the implication here?

I do think people should understand local rules when they visit other places but this seems to send out a message completely at odds with this.

Just me?

No, I only half watched it but at the end of the ad it seems to suggest they're going skinny dipping I was like girl hope you got a lawyer lol

Not been? Don't comment.

Having been to all the Emirates, spent time in the cities and the desert, I can confidently say swimming in a bikini and holding hands is not an issue.

What a lot of Western women (I am one), cannot comprehend is the intrinsically matriarchal basis of Muslim culture. Women generally don't feel downtrodden because they are very much in control of their choices. They WANT to wear hijab, they practice Islamic religious and cultural norms FOR THEMSELVES. I find it a complete paradox that Western Women think "oh shame" - when Muslim women feel exactly the same way. Just because it is different does not make it wrong.

My actual experience of the region is one of rich cultural heritage, amazing food, incredible scenery and most importantly respect and fundamental generosity shown to me, without fail by both Emirati men and women. I found the same in Oman.

I never ONCE felt unsafe, compromised or anything like that. I did leave with a respect and greater understanding of another culture - which does not ask for Western judgement.

Why just the English? Reform got plenty of votes in other parts of the UK. Not enough to return an MP, but a material amount.

Or is this just a reflection of your general perception that England is the whole?

They can advertise that country with people cartwheeling naked down the street while guzzling champagne, and I would not go.
Such countries, whose peoples barely tolerate ex-pats living in their enclaves where a drink is 'tolerated', or holidaymakers, including the all inclusives, are only allowing it because of the money.

Safe for YOU. Not safe for the gay people or the enslaved people. You’re just some white woman with a husband. You’re going to be fine.

The question is " is the ad misleading such that a complaint to ASAnis merited "

Yes. This is what I thought.

That's the bit I don't understand not the holding hands.

Reform gained over 14% votes in total and 7% in Scotland so there is a national difference?

Ah let the Dubai bashing (re) commence. Favourite MN pastime. Having actually lived in Dubai for many years unlike the vast majority of people on here, I can tell you we used to hold hands in public all the time. Whether you are married or not isn’t an issue as its like there is marriage police checking up on you. Also the beach is the beach and you wear and act like you would on any beach in the world is wear swim clothes incl bikinis.

I spent time with openly gay people. The enslaved people CHOOSE to earn more in Dubai than they could ever hope to earn in their own countries.

Exactly

I'm not bashing Dubai. I'm questioning whether promoting it as a place you'd go for a swim after a night out (they are in evening gear and no one swims in that so the assumption is they'd remove them) is wise.

I wouldn't have thought so.

I lived in UAE for years and briefly Oman. I found UAE it to be a misogynistic and hypocritical country where it was one rule for locals and one rule for everyone else.

DV is not taken seriously at all, marital rape is legal, children can be travel banned, racism is rife and maids as well as construction workers are often treated horrendously. You just need to walk through areas like Deira and Karama.

One thing that stood out for me is how superficial it is. For CVs, you have to include a photo of yourself and the airline I used to work for would regularly weigh us and do image and uniform inspections before flights. They would put crew on weight management programmes and ground them until they lost the weight. If they didn’t they would be sacked.

Which bit is matriarchal?

But the point is he didn’t know. I think OP is saying that the ad (which I haven’t seen, but going by OP’s description) is promoting certain behaviours that would be acceptable in the UK as acceptable there, when in reality they could lead to a prison sentence.

People should check local laws before they travel anywhere, but if a country is putting si ch behaviours in their own advertising it would be fair to assume that you can behave as such there.

How much time did you spend in Dubai?

Exactly this. Why the hell would anyone want to go to such a scuzzy, shallow, sexist place for a holiday? Grim.

@XWKD @LondonPapa
they weren’t aware that the age of consent was 18 over there. As it’s 16 in the UK they just assumed they weren’t doing anything wrong. Very sad, but unfortunately the law was broken over there.
Same can’t be said for when it’s the other way around and people come here and say “but 12/13 years old is ok where I’m from” or “I didn’t know rape was illegal” it’s not ok here so they should be charged accordingly!!

Why?

For me it wasn’t about any risks re being unmarried (I went with my ex partner, not married, and 2 DC) but the terrible class divide. The people who work in the hotels, taxi drivers were treated like some kind of underclass. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it and it made me deeply uncomfortable. Our hotel driver was told by a local that he had to be the one to reverse back down the road as he was a service worker. I’d never return there and I don’t know how people can go there and not see this.

Speak for yourself.

Personally I couldn’t give less of a shit what a stewardess looks like, as long as she can do her job professionally.

Thank you. Yes this is exactly what I mean.

I've never seen quite such a western version.

I'm well aware that the 'rules: for tourists are not the same but there's also usually an understanding that this type of behaviour can only go so far and you must have a respect that you are not in Benidorm.

Usually everyone comes on the Dubai posts to point out you are fine if you would just appreciate this. The advert feels like a blurring of that.

Bit of an ignorant response. The woman that were being put on weight management were probably a size 12 if that. I was a size 6 and borderline underweight but was average size compared to my other colleagues.

We've been a few times and I never wear my wedding ring because I find it uncomfortable in the heat- nobody batted an eyelid, particularly tourists are fine to drink, wear swimwear, not be married etc - they've accepted this is the western way of life and they're attracting those tourists. So I don't think the advert is misleading as all those things would be absolutely fine, and there's no way that woman is nude, you'd get arrested for shagging on a beach in this country or being nude in public places because its illegal here too, so no sympathy with those people - they should generslly have more respect for those around them. I did have sympathy with the 18 yr old lad BUT he should've checked age of consent and he broke the law. I think India felt more conservative when I went as a tourist than dubai, because I felt locals judged me more for my attire, there was more social pressure, whereas dubai was a big melting pot and lots of people were way more scantily clad than me and nobody glanced at them
My husband works across the Emirates and generally speaking the local people are really happy, astoundingly wealthy, they get huge social security from their govt and much better low income and unemployment support than the UK, rhey also happily discuss politics and have different views and debates over dinner with one another (obviously dont criticise their royalty but to be fair, theyre paid handsomely for their loyalty). The people he feels for are the immigrant workers, which is a different question and you'd have to make a moral judgement on it yourself before visiting, but doubt slave labour crops up in the ad....