Saturday, May 31, 2008

Rachel Ray and the "SCARF"



From The Associated Press:

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzray0530,0,1925547.story

“Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.”


“Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.”


"Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective."I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."



Well, this being Saturday I was not planning on posting anything today.


But tell me how I could pass this news item by the wayside.


Come on people---------lighten up.


It is just a scarf for pete's sake.


I doubt very much that Miss Ray or her stylist (because we all have one---you know)

intentionally meant anyone to even notice her wardrobe choice.


Are people becoming so paranoid that a little thing such as a scarf draped around Rachel Ray's neck would cause such an uproar.



What REALLY bothers me is that Rachel Ray is making commercials for Dunkin' Donuts!

6 comments:

JeanMac said...

People always get their shirts in a knot before thinking.

David said...

It's a scarf!
There just dough nuts!
What is wrong with people???

Merle said...

Hi B N ~~ Good post. People make such a big thing out of anything at
all. No need to go seeking trouble
is there? Thank you so much for your comments and glad you enjoyed my post. Take care, Love, Merle.

Mental P Mama said...

Mountains out of molehills.

And I agree with you. Why is she making commercials for Dunkin Donuts. Isn't she about done?

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

Amen, sister! For goodness sakes I will even go so far as to say that EVEN IF SHE DID INTENTIONALLY do this to cause an uproar, which clearly she did not, so what? Don't we live in a free country?

Oh, don't get me started on this one. I'll just go back to the beginning of my comment: AMEN, SISTER!

Bev said...

all of those people need to GET A LIFE!!

good lord, how paranoid can we get -- its a terrible statement of how the world has gone totally out of their minds since 9/11 and all the craziness since

I do think it is nuts for Rachael Ray to be doing Dunkin' Donut commercials -- I thought she was about cooking, not just making a buck -- guess I was wrong