12/18/2020
Who Was Margret Mead? | Brian Brijbag | Anthropology
a Who Was Margret Mead? by Brian Brijbag | Dec 18, 2020 | Uncategorized
Margaret Mead was a famous cultural anthropologist and writer. Unlike most women during her time, Margaret Mead traveled around the world studying different cultures. She was born in Philadelphia, in 1901, during a time when women were still struggling for fundamental rights. Mead went to Barnard College and completed her studied in English and psychology. Mead also studied anthropology at Columbia University. After completing her degree and with the support of her colleagues, Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, she ventured to Samoa Island to research the culture of the native population. During her studies, she noticed fewer restraints on sexual behavior among Samoan women than in the United States. For instance, women were not limited to one partner, nor was it frowned upon to engage in sex before marriage. She concluded that culture and not biology determined human behavior; hence nature vs. nurture. Mead’s compiled her findings in her book titled Coming of Age in Samoa. To further her anthropological studies, she went to New Guinea. Her studies revealed that men and women from cultures outside the U.S. approached marriage and child-rearing in a vastly different way. At this point in her life, Mead was well known in her field. She had very distinct views about women’s rights as well as
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