Here at Ideas, Not Identity, I am a writer who believes that unfortunately, ideas are no longer separate from the individual saying them. This leaves many people fearful of raising questions or even mentioning topics deemed controversial.

I firmly believe that a writer or speaker should be judged based on the points they raise, and not on who they are as a person.

I have therefore set up this page to discuss topics that many feel too afraid to talk about. I hope by reading and responding to me, barriers can be broken down, discussions can begin, and progress can be made towards removing the taboo certain modern day issues possess.

Say Goodbye to Dubai: The Irony of Influencers.

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Say Goodbye to Dubai.

The Irony of Influencers.


First of all, yes this Blog is still going! Stay tuned for lots more content, and thank you for reading!


Across the news recently, you will have seen that the world of influencers has come under strong criticism for their unnecessary travelling abroad. A swift scroll through any social media platform will see these, at a push, B-list celebrities, parading in their sponsored bikinis on private yachts, donning the international symbol of Middle-Eastern holidaying: a shisha pipe, whooping and cheering as a waitress brings forth a superfluously large bottle of vodka, sparkling in the darkened club (Grey Goose, of course). I fear that if I linger and rant any further about the behaviours of this kind, I will struggle to stop. My main issue here is not what they get up to, but where they decide to do so.

                A location check will see at least the majority, if not the entire influencer flock, lavishly living it up in the United Arab Emirates, mainly concentrated in Dubai. Why? Having briefly stopped there on a transfer, I do not understand the attraction to the place. This playground for the rich has apparently become what Monaco and St Tropez once were, only with better WiFi and a few more sparklers in the booze. And yet it feels like a hot and humid, slave-built Disneyland, with a Harrods in the middle, compacted to resemble a sandy Asgard.

So, it may not be to my taste, granted. Many people visit many ugly countries. However, not all of them are quite as outdated when it comes to the rules and regulations of the land. Not only is capital punishment a legal penalty in the UAE (through stoning, firing squad, or hanging, may I add), but homosexuality is one of the crimes that can carry the death penalty under Emirati Law. So, when they pose with their rainbow-embossed Starbucks cup in the hope to reach out to their LGBT+ followers, to literally influence their views, behaviours, hopes and dreams, is the irony not visible? Sorry, scratch that, this is no longer irony but sheer contradiction.

In a country with such awful laws, horrendous punishments, and degrading views on anyone who happens to be a woman, gay, or god forbid kissing someone they are not married to, I do not understand why such a large majority of left-wing, feminist, LGBT supporting, trans campaigning, generation-Woke influencers would even accept the idea that a place like this is tolerable, let alone turn it into a popular holiday destination. I laugh at how it is illegal to import pork products and pornography into the UAE, and yet at the moment, the UK’s largest export to Dubai is currently half-naked pigs. Not only is your ‘work’ unnecessary, but you are on holiday, you are taking pictures, and you are partying, all during lockdown, amidst a global pandemic. That does not constitute work. Throw some sand in your living room, get your kit off, chuck a firecracker in your Pornstar Martini and the job's done.

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