# Is it offensive to wear a keffiyeh or a white robe in Arab countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733 "2009-09-03T10:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/21 "2010-05-26T18:32:40Z")
Would it be too reasonable to suggest that perhaps the people who live in Arab countries are all individuals, so that some might be offended and others wouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/22 "2010-05-26T19:17:10Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Would it be too reasonable to suggest that perhaps the people who live in Arab countries are all individuals, so that some might be offended and others wouldn’t? Perhaps, but it wouldn’t be especially helpful to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/23 "2010-05-26T19:21:35Z")
We are ALL individuals! ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/24 "2010-05-26T19:39:16Z")
I think it depends on where you are. When I lived in Dhahran/Dammam which are fairly westernized, I had many friends ask why I didn’t wear a thobe. I did wear a thobe a few times in public in the Dhahran area and nobody looked twice. I was just grocery shopping or whatever and didn’t feel like getting changed. I did not wear it to work or anything like that. When it is 110 degrees F. with huge humidity, thobes are great to wear around the back garden. In Riyadh, I always got the feeling that wearing a thobe would have been frowned upon. Nothing I could point to but the feeling was always there. Testy ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/25 "2010-05-26T19:44:15Z")
Is there anything a visitor to the US could do in acting or dressing like an American that would offend Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/26 "2010-05-26T19:51:34Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Is there anything a visitor to the US could do in acting or dressing like an American that would offend Americans? This: [http://redneckarmy.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=75055261](http://redneckarmy.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=75055261) might be offensive on several levels. (Linked picture may be NSFW for some). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/27 "2010-05-26T19:51:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > We are ALL individuals! I am too! ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733/28 "2010-05-26T20:00:33Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I am too! I’m not! :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-offensive-to-wear-a-keffiyeh-or-a-white-robe-in-arab-countries/508733.md?page=1)