Margaret Mead
Contents
Country
United States
Birth - Death
1901 - 1978
Occupation
Explorer
Notable Achievements
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Description
Margaret Mead was the foremost human and cultural anthropologists of her generation whose path breaking work led to a greater understanding of the various human cultures of the world. Her specific research focussed on sexual relations within those cultures, and how they influenced the development of the culture itself. Notable books that she authored include Coming of Age in Somoa (1928), Male and Female (1949), and Growth & Culture (1951).
Upon graduating with a PhD degree from Columbia University, Mead joined the staff of the American Museum of Natural History. She remained with that institution throughout her life, eventually becoming its Curator of Ethnology. She was elected the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1975.
Anthropology is the study of social culture, including the development of beliefs, values, customs, languages, and economic interactions central to the functioning of a society. This area of research encompasses archeology and linguistics, but also human biology and culture.
Mead is credited with developing the theory that differences in human personalities are largely the result of human interactions, as opposed to hereditary conditions. This conclusion was developed from her studies of the transmission of culture to children. To develop her theory, Mead made extensive trips to various and under-explored regions around the world, particularly in the South American continent and the South Seas. The advocacy of women’s rights, sexual morality, environmental issues, and hunger were all topics to fall under her area of analysis and expertise. Mead’s work has been described as nurture-oriented rather than nature-oriented.
As her career developed, Mead focussed on more contemporary cultural issues, and thus earned a reputation for commenting on more controversial social and cultural topics such as race and ethnicity. She was a prominent figure in the academic world during her lifetime and taught at Columbia University as an Adjunct Professor. Mead became increasingly involved in global organizations working on human rights issues. Her writings and lectures on these topics were widely accepted and popular with the general population.
Mead’s contribution to the field of anthropology was posthumously recognized when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979.
Her contribution to the fight for LGBTQ rights is important. In developing her theories, Mead continually emphasized how each individual in a society can shape the culture of the group as a whole. This simple, but important, notion is a fundamental tenet in the fight for the rights of any minority in the face of majority opposition. This belief underpins the actions of a small group and its ability to change the culture of society as a whole.
That Mead herself was bisexual is not in doubt, though she never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation. She experienced three unsuccessful marriages during her lifetime. Only later in life did she develop an intimate personal relationship with women: first with Ruth Benedict, but more prominently with fellow anthropologist Rhoda Metraux with whom she lived from 1955 until her death in 1978. Posthumously, her extensive correspondence confirms the sexual intimacy of the relationship.
Mead wrote about bisexuality toward the end of her career. This writing encouraged a general acceptance for individual sexual preference as a normal form of human behaviour. Most notable was her article Bisexuality: A New Awareness (1975) published in her regular column in Redbook magazine.
What would make a woman so prominent in the study of human relationships so secretive about her own sexual preference and romantic pursuits? In her studies, Mead acknowledges the power of the individual to make change in society, yet she herself refrained from taking initiatives tin support of the advancement of LGBTQ rights. Did she value her academic standing more than her right to live freely and openly as she wished? It is certainly indicative of her acceptance that LGBTQ rights were still a long way off at the time.
See Also
- LGBTQ Explorers and Adventurers
- LGBTQ Curators at Museums and Art Galleries
- LGBTQ Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
