American-based United Airlines is currently at the center of debate after barring two teenage girls from boarding a flight on Sunday for wearing leggings.
The gate agent said the girls weren't dressed "appropriately" - a decision that the airline defended under its Contract of Carriage, allowing gate agents to decide what's considered appropriate dress or not.
Soon after the news made the rounds online, one Twitter user came out with a racist comment, questioning whether United stands for "United Arab Emirates", since "Arab" basically means "backward" and "chauvinistic" to the bigoted.
Well, was the American carrier being "Arab" when it escorted an entire Muslim family off a plane in 2016 for simply looking Muslim?
What about the time when United Airlines refused to serve a Muslim woman a diet coke during the flight? Is diet coke haram in Muslim countries? Is that why they refused to serve her a soda? Again, the answer is no.
Instead of discussing United Airlines' latest feat, Arabs were blamed, as usual.
It's a shame to see that in 2017 Arab countries are still being viewed as backward.
Yes, the system is flawed, but change is happening and women are leading the way.
Let's talk statistics. In 2015, 30 % of UAE's governmental decision-making positions were held by women, the highest in the Arab world.
The country even had an Arab woman chair a national assembly
Dr. Amal Al-Qubaisi is one of the few Arab women to head a national assembly when she was appointed President of the Federal National Council.
The first woman to ever chair a parliament in the Middle East is Alees Samaan, a Bahraini politician and former ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The UAE saw a 58% increase in female entrepreneurs ... in just 4 years.
The nation currently has around 20,000 female entrepreneurs, marking a 58% increase since 2012, according to WhatsOn.
Emirati women have started all kinds of businesses, from online stores to large-scale companies.
The UAE was the first in the region to make female representation in all governmental boards mandatory.
And it's not just the UAE.
Saudi Arabia, which is often criticized for its guardianship system and its ban on women's ability to drive, has higher female participation in its legislative body than the United States.
Since 2013, at least 30 of the kingdom's 150 Shura Council members have been women. That's roughly 20 percent.
Although the body is not democratically elected, as the members are appointed by the king, the legislative body has a higher percentage of women than many other countries, the U.S. included.
Currently, the American Congress, which is democratically elected, is only 19.4 percent women.
The bicameral legislative body has significantly more members however, with 105 women out of 541 total representatives.