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| Figure 1: Margaret Mead |
Margaret Mead is one of the most influential and famous anthropologists
to have ever existed. She is responsible
for bringing anthropology to the forefront of the public’s attention, as well
as initiating paradigm shifts within the discipline. This blog post will focus on the life and
contributions of Dr. Margaret Mead (Figure 1).
Born on December 16, 1901 to an economist and feminist
political activist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mead was groomed from an
early age to focus on social studies and activism. While she initially attended DePauw
University she quickly transferred to Barnard College, where she was supervised
and taught by Franz Boas. His influence
landed her at Columbia, where she completed her PhD. Through her studies she also met and was
mentored by another famous anthropologist, Ruth Benedict. Collectively, Boas and Benedict’s influence
led to Mead’s pioneering changes to the discipline.
Her scholarly work focused largely on southeast Asian
cultures, specifically Samoan and New Guinea societies. It was here where she cultivated her studies
on cultural determinism, which refers to the influence culture has on human development. Prior to publishing her work there was a push
in science toward biology dictating human development, but Mead’s work on Samoan
adolescence demonstrated the importance of cultural expectations on adolescent
behaviors. She also furthered
anthropological knowledge on gender and child rearing, which showed both the
scholarly community and the public that there was a great deal of diversity
that existed for both.
In addition to her scholarly work
Mead was a dedicated lecturer and publisher of columns in several
magazines. She wrote a regular piece for
Redbook magazine as part of her
initiative to keep the public informed about anthropology. Additionally, she wanted to promote ideals
regarding the benefits of cultural diversity, as well as use her status and
station to promote activism for race relations, women’s rights, drug abuse,
environmental pollution, population control, and world hunger.
Mead’s personal life was mired with three marriages and divorces,
but she had a daughter, Marie Catherine Bateson, with her third husband, another
anthropologist. She served as the president
of two major organizations, including the American Anthropological Association
and the American Association of the Advancement of Science. She passed away on November 15, 1978 and was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom a year later.
References
Author, N. (2009). MARGARET MEAD (1901-1978): An
Anthropology of Human Freedom. Retrieved from The Institute for
Intercultural Studies:
http://www.interculturalstudies.org/Mead/biography.html
Author, N. (2018, February 27). Margaret Mead
Biography. Retrieved from The Biography.com website:
https://www.biography.com/people/margaret-mead-9404056
Editors. (2018). Margaret Mead: American
Anthropologist. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Mead
History.com Staff. (2010). Margaret Mead.
Retrieved from History.com:
http://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/margaret-mead
11 comments:
Akwila Cooks
It is also cool to know when a woman makes an impact. The fact that she served as the president of two major organizations, including the American Anthropological Association and the American Association of the Advancement of Science was amazing to be an woman.
This was a very good blog post about the life and contributions of Dr. Margaret Mead. never heard of her before, but after reading this blog I find that she was a very intelligent women that served as the president of the Anthropological Association. the most influential anthropologists to have ever existed,That's very interesting to me.
-Micah Seals
Wow! Mead sounds like a strong woman. Being raised by an activist would definitely get you started off an the right foot for a passion in anthropology. It is obvious she did great work because she was the president of two huge organizations. What an amazing woman.
Kahla Perry
My name is Tonii Saffore. I enjoyed reading this post about Margaret Mead. I believed that the first time I heard of her was in one of my social work classes because she was too an feminist activist and powerful leader. I like how my the fields of anthropology and social can intertwine because of of people like Mead who play a huge role in both.
I love learning about people who made a impact on this world whether it be in their careers, to other or even in their personal lives. Mead seemed like a very amazing woman.
Being a women is very hard in America. I won’t play the race card because as a women in general it’s hard to be looked at as equal so to know a women is famous for bringing forth anthropology is very interesting to learn . Everything she wanted acknowledged is so interesting and really does make me want to know more about the true aspect of what all Andhropolgy is.
-Jazlyn Logan
I thought that it is cool that Margret Mead would regularly write a piece in the Redbook Magazine to keep everyone informed about anthropology and that she also used the article to promote very important things like women's rights, environmental pollution, world hunger, etc. Reading this blog post I also found it interesting that she studied mostly southeast Asian cultures and her studies on adolescent behaviors.
Its always amazing seeing women make an impact. Its amazing how much she accomplished, especially with being a woman.
-Kyla Thomas
The main part that I really loved was "she wanted to promote ideals regarding the benefits of cultural diversity, as well as use her status and station to promote activism for race relations, women’s rights, drug abuse, environmental pollution, population control, and world hunger". By her connecting with the world in some kind of way, it helps everyone keep up with her and anthropology.
-Jasmine Busby
Woman are legendary. She is legendary. Frank Boas is great too as I have heard of him before. Meade has accomplished so much she is strong and very intelligent. Glad to know she has made an impact on the world and is a good example for pushing on. -castrele hou
Women are very powerful and strong. Mead is one of those women, being raised by an activist really paved the way for her to be great and accomplish many things.
- Jada Watkins
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