People around the world are outraged after yesterday, a Starbucks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia banned women from entering its establishment. A wall dividing families and single people fell, leading to the temporary solution of prohibiting women from entering the Starbucks at all. A sign was posted on the door of the Starbucks stating: "PLEASE NO ENTRY FOR LADIES ONLY SEND YOUR DRIVER TO ORDER THANK YOU."
It is always very challenging to grasp the varying cultural norms around the world, particularly in a country such as Saudi Arabia, which American media has shown countless times how repressed women can be there. However, As Saudi Arabia is a member nation of the UN, there should likely be some expectation of human rights for women, which is clearly being denied through this act of mere gender segregation. Additionally, with Starbucks being one of the largest and most profitable international corporations, many people are surprised this one individual Starbucks is making such a strong, public appearance of heteropatriarchy. However, despite this negative portrayal of Starbucks in the media, as reluctant as I am to admit it, I still bought my iced coffee this morning, as I am sure millions of people around the world did as well. We rely on Starbucks and they know it, sadly giving them immense flexibility in the public stances they are able to take.
This shocks me simply because it's Starbucks - a well respected American brand. I hope that there in more coverage of this issue in the media (news channels specifically) because negative press may encourage Starbucks to change this banning of women.
ReplyDeleteThis shocks me simply because it's Starbucks - a well respected American brand. I hope that there in more coverage of this issue in the media (news channels specifically) because negative press may encourage Starbucks to change this banning of women.
ReplyDelete