Very few anthropologists opt for the soft life when it comes to their field work. In fact, I know only two—one went to the Vatican to study the domestic economy of a male-dominated society, and the other went to Monaco to study sense of place and permanence amongst tax exiles.
Both of these were rather condescended to by their peers later on—they were treated as if they had not really earned their spurs, so to speak, as anthropologists. There were sniffy remarks about doing one's research in a meadow rather than a field—that sort of thing. Not really funny, but very barbed.
Source
Domenica Macdonald is a fictional anthropologist, and the creation of Alexander McCall Smith, in his "44 Scotland Street" series.
Alexander McCall Smith. 2006. Love over Scotland. Anchor Books, New York.
