Pioneers in any profession, relatively few Saudi women have entered the work force—despite a boom in education created by the kingdom’s oil wealth—and usually in fields where they won’t come into contact with men. Baby boys are another matter: Dr. Hanan Ali al-Subeai examines a newborn at Airbase Military Hospital in Dhahran. Her ghata, or head covering, is considered a veil.
—From “Women of Saudi Arabia,” October 1987, National Geographic magazine
Jodi Cobb
