On Feb 2, 2009, at 10:10 AM, Joshua Zeidner wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 8:25 AM, Alex Dean <alex@crackpot.org> wrote:
>> You are confusing Muslim with Arab.
>
>  how is he confusing them?  -jmz

The dress standards you cited are specific to UAE.  There are many  
Muslim-majority countries, and Arab-majority countries, where this  
clothing advice would not be appropriate.  Statements like "Heck of a  
night life they must have, oh wait, their MUSLIM!!!!!" and "I'm saying  
that they way they treat women. I will not be going." conflate Arab  
and Muslim, and infer the most conservative social norms (which are  
most common in a place like Saudi Arabia, but not elsewhere).

The link you posted makes it pretty clear that there are a variety of  
standards within the UAE, nevermind in the wider Arab or Muslim  
worlds.  You quoted a sentence specific to workplace attire, but there  
are other statements like "Outside work, anything really goes, to a  
limit. In the malls, many wear jeans and t-shirts or the like, and  
clubbing gear is as you would expect elsewhere."  This matches the  
first-hand statements I've heard from people traveling in Saudi  
Arabia, UAE, etc.
http://www.grapeshisha.com/UAE-National-clothing.html

Hooray for me if I score popularity points.  That's not my goal, and  
your sarcasm is unnecessary.  I see an important difference here, and  
I said what I wanted to say about it.  Questioning my motives by  
implying I have some ulterior motive is silly.

Craig's point is taken, though.  I can just delete this stuff, and I  
will.  I don't have any regrets for pointing out some excessive  
generalization, but I'm content to be done with it now.  Apologies to  
anyone who found my comments uninteresting or off-base.

alex