Paris Hilton in Mecca

11/26/2012

4 Comments

 
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    Paris Hilton has recently opened up a store in Mecca, the Muslim holy city in Saudi Arabia. Mecca is a city which attracts about three million Muslims every year. They are expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca if they have the opportunity. This is not the first time that Mecca has seen luxurious stores, or even stores that carry clothing which is far from conservative.  The reason that many people are not accepting Hilton’s new store is because of her own personal image. In Hilton’s past she has been known to do scandalous things; things which are not acceptable in Saudi Arabia or the Muslim faith. Some people are also upset because they believe that the holy city of Mecca has become too commercialized by brands like Gucci and Christian Dior. Paris Hilton did have a reason to open her store in Mecca. Saudi Arabia has a high income rate, where many people have extra money to spend on designer clothes. Hilton believed that if she were to open a store in Mecca she would be able to gain money and the attention of supporters who had never seen many of her clothes before.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/meast/paris-hilton-store-mecca/index.html
4 Comments
Gabriella Pittaluga
11/26/2012 10:14:24 am

Well, one cannot deny the expanse of globalization! Many countries are skeptical about cultural diffusion because they don't want to lose their respective cultures. Islam is a religion that has been practiced for nearly three thousand years. Mecca is their holy city, just like Jerusalem is for Christians and Jews. This is similar to the current situation with Muslims in France. The French are a very proud and nationalistic people. Because of their location and former colonies in Africa including Islamic nations, many Muslims inhabit France. Strict female practitioners wear the head coverings, but the French don't want them there. They have passed legislation outlawing the use of head scarves in public places, which basically outlaws the Muslims' practice of wearing head scarves. The French don't want to become a "melting pot" even though Muslims make up the largest minority in France. Just as they reject the Muslims, the Muslims reject Paris Hilton.

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Matt Nickles
12/9/2012 11:34:03 pm

Paris Hilton's reasoning for opening a store in Mecca seems legitimate, however, Mecca is not the only place with a high income rate. She had to have known that opening a store there would be risky and scandalous. Dubai for example has a high income rate and is considered a mecca for shopping (no pun intended). Dubai also has a very wide range of cultures. Mecca, However, is a very important part of the Islamic tradition. I feel it is inappropriate for her to open a store that sells revealing clothing to a culture that denies and criticizes this behavior. This reminds me of the incident last year of the mosque opening up near ground zero. Although I personally believe that situation was blown out of proportion, these two issues involve purely on respecting other peoples beliefs and cultures.

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Raj Bhagowalia
12/9/2012 11:40:10 pm

Mecca is the holiest city in the religion of Islam. It was the birthplace of Muhammad and the site of the revelation of the Quran. The Hajj, or a pilgrimage to this holy city, is even required for all muslims, so its importance in the Muslim world cannot be understated. Opening up another modern store like Paris Hilton's is a bad idea to introduce in Mecca, where the holiest Muslims could get fed up with this style of clothing, which is the opposite of the traditional Muslim style of modesty that they hold up as timeless

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Andy Muehr
12/10/2012 12:30:38 am

Hasn't Paris Hilton always been known to be an airhead? This isn't as surprising as it is audacious. This is one of those ideas that could prove to be very harmful to Hilton's image, again. As Mecca is the holiest place of Islam, all eyes of the Islamic world are on it, and this will definitely anger a lot of devout Muslims.

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