See also: Mead

Margaret Mead (1901 with Philadelphia - 1978 with New York) is an American anthropologist . Known to be very committed, it took an active part to promote the humanistic dimension of the Anthropologie.

Biography

In 1921, it enters to the Université Columbia for studies of Psychologie and Anthropologie.

In 1923, she marries its first husband, Luther Cressman, which is then student in theology.

In 1925, it meets in Europe the New Zealand anthropologist Reo Fortune and the wife. She settles with him with the islands Samoa in Polynésie with the suggestion of Franz Boas.

In 1926, it joined off American Museum Natural History of New York.

From 1928 to 1929, she lives in the islands of Admiralty. In 1929, it obtains its doctorate at the university of Columbia.

In 1931, it begins the study of three companies in New Guinea, from a point of view specialist in comparative literature. It supplements it in 1933.

In 1933, it meets her husband-to-be, the anthropologist Gregory Bateson at Chamboulis.

In the Thirties, she works with Harry Stack Sullivan.

In 1935, she marries Gregory Bateson and of 1936 to 1938 she remains with him with Bali to carry out a work of ground. They carry out together a film, Transe and dance in Bali .

In 1938, it turns over to New Guinea and settles at the Iatmul S in company of Bateson.

In 1939, is born their daughter Mary Catherine Bateson. This same year, she consults Milton Erickson in connection with the processes of fright.

From 1942 to 1946, it takes part in the famous known interdisciplinary meetings under the name of Conférences Macy.

August 1st

She dies, following a Cancer, the November 15th 1978.

Work

She publishes in 1928 the work Coming off Old in Samoa , which is the result of what she presents like a long investigation of ground, and which will become a true best-seller.

Mead described there a company of tolerance, without conflict, where “ the sexual activity is a natural and pleasant thing ” to which teenagers, in particular, are devoted freely. This vision of the love under the palm trees, which was not without recalling the Supplément to the voyage of Cook and Supplément with the voyage of Bougainville made nevertheless the effect of a bomb in the puritan America of the years 1920. Mead, in this way, will consolidate the assumption culturalist.

In short, its work Manners and sexuality in Oceania aim at showing the character traits of the man and of the woman are the result of a social conditioning. Thus nature, according to it, is malleable because “it obeys the impulses which communicates to him the social body”. The studied people mélanésiens have the specific personality to their civilization within which they were high. Thus Mundugumor have a temperament brutal and aggressive, Arapesh avoid the aggressive attitudes and are attentive with the need for the others and Chambuli, them, the woman has a place of dominant, and the man is presented in the form of an emotive being.

This diversity is found under the same relative aspect in all civilizations in spite of the divergences which separate them. Then, it poses an assumption which would be that to work out the principles according to which types of so different personalities could be assigned with the men and the women during the history: the boys will have to dominate their fear and the women will be able to express it.

Then it raises a question to know if a civilization is able to choose in vast wide human virtualities, a certain number of features, and to make the distinctive mark of it, either one of the two sexes, or of all the community.

Criticisms

Its study on the company Samoa will not highly be criticized after its death by Derek Freeman which will establish a thesis showing that it had been let influence by a small number of testimonys without seeking to recut those. During several decades, its book had made authority without nobody thinking of wondering about his real validity.

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