Margaret Mead

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File:Trance and Dance in Bali.webm Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured author and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard College in New York City and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. Mead was a respected and often controversial academic who popularized the insights of anthropology in modern American and Western culture. Her work primarily focused on the study of different cultures and brought significant contributions to our understanding of the complexities of societies and human behavior.

Early Life and Education

Margaret Mead was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a socially progressive family. Her father was an economics professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and her mother was a sociologist who studied Italian immigrants. From an early age, Mead was encouraged to observe the world around her and to question traditional societal norms.

Mead's higher education began at DePauw University but she transferred to Barnard College, where she graduated in 1923. She then went on to pursue her graduate studies at Columbia University under the mentorship of Franz Boas, the father of American anthropology, and Ruth Benedict, who would become one of Mead's closest colleagues and friends. It was under their guidance that Mead developed her interest in studying cultures.

Fieldwork and Contributions

Mead's first major fieldwork was conducted in Samoa in 1925, where she observed and documented the lives of adolescent girls. This research culminated in her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), which became a bestseller and brought her to public attention. In this work, Mead argued that the experience of adolescence in Samoa was quite different from that in the United States, suggesting that cultural factors, rather than biological ones, were responsible for many of the psychological difficulties experienced by American adolescents.

Throughout her career, Mead conducted fieldwork in various parts of the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea and Bali. Her work often challenged Western perceptions about gender roles and sexuality, suggesting that these, too, were culturally constructed. Mead's approach to anthropology was holistic and interdisciplinary, incorporating insights from psychology, sociology, and even art and literature, to build a fuller understanding of human societies.

Legacy

Margaret Mead's influence extended beyond anthropology and academia. She was a proponent of broadening sexual mores within a context of traditional Western religious life. Mead served as a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York for many years and was a prominent member of various scientific societies. She played a key role in the establishment of the World Federation for Mental Health.

However, Mead's work and conclusions have not been without criticism. Some later anthropologists have questioned the accuracy of her observations and the breadth of her conclusions, particularly regarding her work in Samoa. Despite these controversies, Mead's contributions to anthropology and her role in popularizing the discipline have made her an iconic figure in the field.

Mead's legacy is also evident in her numerous publications, which include more than 20 books and numerous articles, essays, and lectures. Her work continues to inspire and provoke debate among scholars and the general public alike.

Selected Works

• Coming of Age in Samoa (1928)
• Growing Up in New Guinea (1930)
• Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935)
• Male and Female (1949)
• New Lives for Old: Cultural Transformation in Manus, 1944-1953 (1956)

See Also

• Cultural anthropology
• Franz Boas
• Ruth Benedict
• Gender roles