Michael Brooks
Margaret Mead was an anthropologist and one of the towering figures in the intellectual landscape of 20th-century America. She was also a Christian, feminist, and pro-life advocate. Her work in Samoa, particularly her book 'Coming of Age in Samoa', has been the subject of controversy, with some arguing that she misunderstood Samoan culture and that her work lacked scientific rigor. Mead's rejection of traditional sex and gender norms placed her at odds with some American Christians. However, others defend her work, arguing that her conclusions were based on the sum of her observations and interviews during her time in Samoa.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Controversy over the reliability of her anthropological fieldwork in Samoa | Her work in Samoa was criticised for not being scientifically rigorous enough to support her conclusions |
| Christian faith | She was a committed Christian, despite her parents being atheists |
| Pro-life stance | She was pro-life, which was at odds with her rejection of traditional sex and gender norms |
| Feminist views | She was a feminist, supporting women's career aspirations and women's rights |
| Support for indigenous-led churches | She believed that churches could help unite the world, particularly those led by indigenous people |
| Interest in new forms of communication | She utilised new technologies such as tele-lectures to reach wider audiences |
| Wide range of interests | Her interests included anthropology, sociology, semiotics, and ekistics |
| Mentorship | She was a mentor to many young anthropologists and sociologists |
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What You'll Learn
Margaret Mead's religious beliefs
Margaret Mead was a Christian whose convictions about the spiritual were closely woven through her life and work. Born into a family of various religious outlooks, she chose to join the Episcopal Church at the age of 11. She remained committed to the church throughout her life, serving on various church-related committees and teaching Sunday school. Mead's first husband was a minister, and she participated in the Women's Committee on Race Relations, affiliated with the Federal Council of Churches.
Despite her strong Christian faith, Mead's academic field of anthropology has historically had a tense relationship with religion. Her work, particularly her first book, "Coming of Age in Samoa" (1928), challenged traditional sex and gender norms, placing her outside the bounds of faith in the eyes of some Christians. Mead's observations of Samoan culture, which she argued had fluid sexual partnerships and gender roles, were criticised by some as inaccurate and ideologically motivated.
In her writings, Mead proposed that an individual's sexual orientation may evolve throughout life, and she supported the deployment of Iban mercenaries to the Malayan Emergency, arguing that their cultural acceptance of headhunting did not make them more immoral than troops taught that killing was wrong.
Mead's religious beliefs were deeply personal, and she explored the interplay between faith and anthropology. She found the rituals of the Episcopal Church to fit her expression of religion, and her work in Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, where she encountered an indigenised, prophetic form of Christianity, may have influenced her renewed church commitment in the 1950s.
In summary, Margaret Mead was a committed Christian whose religious beliefs were interwoven with her anthropological work. While her interpretations of Samoan culture sparked controversy, her overall contribution to the field of anthropology and her exploration of the relationship between faith and social science remain significant.
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Mead's work in Samoa
In 1925, Margaret Mead travelled to Samoa, seeking to discover whether adolescence was universally traumatic and stressful due to biological factors, or whether it was dependent on cultural upbringing. Her findings were published in her 1928 book, 'Coming of Age in Samoa', a descriptive account of Samoan adolescent life that became very popular.
Mead's book describes Samoan life, beginning with a typical day in Samoa. She describes the birth of children, which is celebrated with a lengthy ritual feast, and how children are mostly ignored after birth up to puberty. She also describes the methods of disciplining children, which mostly involve ritualistic corporal punishment not meant to inflict serious harm. Mead writes about the various group structures and dynamics within Samoan culture, and how these groups are formed and function. She also describes the education of Samoan boys and girls, which focuses on fishing and childcare, respectively.
Despite the controversy, Mead's work in Samoa had a significant impact on the field of anthropology, contributing to the heightened awareness of anthropology and ethnographic study in the United States. Her use of cross-cultural comparison to highlight issues within Western society was highly influential.
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Criticism of her work
Margaret Mead was an anthropologist and a Christian, although her faith is often forgotten or doubted. Her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa (1928), celebrated Samoan society where sexual partnerships and gender roles were in flux, claiming that this fluidity reduced anxiety. Mead's work in Samoa has been criticised for lacking scientific rigour and for romanticising Samoan society.
Mead's work has been criticised by some for not being sufficiently scientifically rigorous. Orans, for example, argues that Mead did not formulate her research agenda in scientific terms. Freeman, another anthropologist, argued that Mead had misunderstood Samoan culture, and that it prized female chastity and virginity. Freeman also found that Samoan islanders had higher rates of murder and rape than those in the United States, and that men were intensely sexually jealous, which contrasted with Mead's depiction of "free love" among the Samoans.
However, Freeman's work has also been criticised. Alice Dreger, for example, argues that Freeman's accusations were unfounded and misleading. Paul Shankman's review of the controversy supports the contention that Mead's research was essentially correct and concludes that Freeman cherry-picked his data and misrepresented both Mead and Samoan culture.
Mead's rejection of sex and gender norms placed her well outside the bounds of faith in the eyes of some American Christians. Conservative commentators were particularly critical of her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa, seeing it as a "propagandistic attack against the Judeo-Christian morality of the West".
Despite being estranged from the church during the earlier part of her career, Mead remained committed to the Episcopal Church throughout her life. Her first husband was a minister, she taught Sunday school, and she served on church-related committees. Mead's private correspondence reveals that she continued to be deeply attached to aspects of Christianity. She was also involved in interfaith work, serving on the board of an interfaith, interracial school in New York City.
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Support for her work
Margaret Mead was a prominent anthropologist and a leading figure in 20th-century American intellectual life. Despite the controversy surrounding her work, particularly her research in Samoa, there are several points of support for her overall body of work.
Firstly, Mead's work extended beyond Samoa, and she applied her knowledge to the understanding of American life, becoming a vocal commentator on contemporary issues. She explored a diverse range of topics, including the generation gap, aging, the nuclear family, education, the environment, race, poverty, women's rights, and sexual behaviour. Mead was also interested in new forms of communication and utilised tele-lectures to reach audiences and improve public understanding of science. She was also a mentor to many young anthropologists and sociologists, including notable figures such as author Gail Sheehy and anthropologist Susan C. Scrimshaw.
Secondly, while some critics have questioned the scientific rigour of her Samoan research, anthropologists have largely rejected the notion that her conclusions were based on a single interview. They argue that her findings were derived from the totality of her observations and interviews during her time in Samoa. Additionally, a detailed review by Paul Shankman supports the contention that Mead's research was essentially correct and accuses her critics of cherry-picking data and misrepresenting her work.
Thirdly, Mead's work had a broad impact beyond academia. She was the president of the American Anthropological Association and a long-serving member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She wrote a column for the popular Red Book magazine and authored several bestselling books on American society. Mead also worked with various groups to address societal issues, serving on the board of an interfaith, interracial school in New York City and contributing to efforts to combat antisemitism.
Lastly, while Mead's relationship with the church was complex, her Christian faith was an important aspect of her life and work. Despite her parents' atheism, Mead joined the Episcopal Church at a young age and remained committed throughout her life. Her faith informed her views on social issues, and she sought to reconcile her anthropological work with her spiritual beliefs.
In conclusion, while Margaret Mead's work, particularly her Samoan research, remains controversial, there is significant support for her overall body of work. Her contributions to anthropology, her mentorship, her public intellectual engagement, and her commitment to social issues have left a lasting impact.
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Her personal life
Margaret Mead was a Christian, pro-life, feminist. Despite her parents being atheists, at the age of 11, she chose to join the Episcopal Church. She remained committed to the church throughout her life, with her first husband being a minister, teaching Sunday school, and serving on church-related committees. Mead was also a mentor to many young anthropologists and sociologists.
Mead's academic field, anthropology, has historically had a tense relationship with religion. People interested in her anthropological work might not know what to make of her faith or might wish to distance her from an institution perceived as retrograde. Moreover, in the eyes of some American Christians, Mead's rejection of sex and gender norms placed her outside the bounds of faith. Her first book, 'Coming of Age in Samoa' (1928), celebrated a society where sexual partnerships and gender roles were in flux, and she claimed that this fluidity alleviated rather than created anxiety.
During the 1940s, Mead threw herself into navigating the tensions between peace and war, and between promised equality and structural racism. She worked with Jewish groups on public campaigns combating antisemitism. Mead served on the board of an interfaith, interracial school in New York City and of Hampton University, a historically Black college. She was not an active churchgoer during this period, partly because churches did not care as much about these causes as she did.
Mead had three husbands and several other romantic relationships with both men and women. She seemed unsuited for monogamy. Her bisexuality was not widely known, but the divorces were, and she feared that the stigma surrounding divorce might discredit the work of any committee she joined. However, witnessing the culture-transforming power of an indigenous-led church on Manus Island, New Guinea, in 1953, convinced her that churches could help unite the world in the nuclear age.
In 1969, Mead's congressional testimony on marijuana provoked controversy. The governor of Florida, Claude Kirk, called Mead a "dirty old lady". People reacted not just to Mead's testimony but also to her comments to the media afterward, particularly her comment that marijuana should be legal at age 16.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, Mead was a Christian, despite her parents being atheists. She was a committed member of the Episcopal Church and remained so throughout her life.
Margaret Mead's work was generally controversial, especially her book, 'Coming of Age in Samoa', which celebrated a society where sexual partnerships and gender roles were in flux. This was considered by some to be outside the bounds of Christian faith. However, there is no specific mention of controversy with Catholics.
There is some debate about the accuracy of Mead's work on Samoan culture. Freeman, another anthropologist, argued that Mead misunderstood Samoan culture and that her informants had misled her. However, Freeman's critique was also met with backlash and criticism from the anthropology community.
Margaret Mead was pro-life.
