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To underline her point about how women's work is consistently given short shrift, Howe includes a few choice listings from the Labor Department's Dictionary of Occupational Titles. It ranks some 30,000 jobs according to their level of complexity. "Nurse, midwife" is classified as less skilled than hotel clerk; "homemaker," cross-referenced with "general maid," ranks slightly lower than dog-pound attendant.
SUPER-WEALTH: THE SECRET LIVES OF THE OIL SHEIKHS by LINDA BLANDFORD 319 pages. Morrow. $10.
What goes on behind the garden walls of oil-rich Arabs? Linda Blandford, an English journalist, decided to find out. Her book is no better than her superficial investigations, but they are not without a certain gossipy appeal.
One Saudi prince bought a $30,000 Rolls-Royce Corniche to tool around England with, and after two months gave it to his British chauffeur. Another likes to play with 16 hooded falcons, which go for $3,000 a throw. Sheikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi, President of the United Arab Emirates, has "a palace or two" in Pakistan, where he hunts for two months every year, and London digs with four-figure faucets designed by Godfrey Bonsack of May fair. Then there is the ruler of Dubai, who likes to hoist up his skirts—all the way—and then see which courtier will be the first to mention the royal flash. Linda of Arabia deals in crashing generalities. "Arabs are hypochondriacs," she offers en passant. Bahrain is "tidy," Qatar is dull and Kuwait is full of trendy boutiques but still very conservative. One sheikh found his unmarried daughter with a man and took her out to the desert—forever. The Saudi view of women boils down to "treasure or tramp." Linda apparently does not fall into either category, which is probably why her hosts poured out their warm hearts to her.