It’s become customary: when celebrities come to Dubai, they’ve got to be snapped wearing an abaya.
It’s also now become standard for followers of that celebrity to weigh in on whether donning the traditional garb is somehow insensitive.
American reality star Khloé Kardashian’s Instagram photo, showing her wearing in a hijab while in Dubai this week, was no different. The 30-year-old was in town to host a hairstyling workshop at Dubai World Trade Center on Monday, May 25.
Kardashian captioned the stylish picture, in which she shows heavily made-up eyes peering out from a black hijab and abaya, "Habibi Love."
With 697,000 “likes” and counting, there is no doubt she got all that love right back.
But stardom doesn’t come without scrutiny. Several Instagrammers thought she disrespected the culture of UAE, some vehemently and profanely.
One social-media user wrote: “That’s a tad disrespectful.” Another added: “She’s disregarding a cultural/religious symbol by appealing to her own commercial interest.”
Many followers came to her defence, however, sparking a debate on her feed, which was duly reported on the website of E!, which broadcasts her family's multiple reality shows around the world.
One wrote: “So what? I think most of us, when we travel abroad, we try on culture clothes … and no one is being bullied for wearing that in the UAE.”
Another Instagrammer wrote: “As a Muslim I don’t see how this offends some Muslims. She can wear whatever she wants.”
aahmed@thenational.ae