Margaret Mead..What are some of her accomplishments?

Question

I know she was a cultural anthroplogist, but what were her major accomplishments? Is she still highly regarded in the field of anthropology? Thanks.

Answer 1

Apart from writing "Coming of Age in Somoa" and becoming very well known for that she was Curator in the Anthropology department at the American Museum of Natural History.

Answer 2

Well she was an ethnographer in Samoa and wrote about Samoan culture, especially in regards to women. Her ethnography, Coming of Age in Samoa, was WILDLY popular and she kind of became a "pop anthropologist". However... it turned out much of what she wrote was wrong. Or at least misguided.

When later archaeologists returned to Samoa to follow up on her work, they found not the sleepy, laid-back society Mead wrote about, but a violent one where adolescence was not as simple as she described.

Answer 3

Margaret Mead's research is fairly suspect these days; check out Derek Freeman's work criticizing her research.  Also, check out the criticisms of Freeman (many people still support Mead).

However, her contributions to anthropology are still significant.  She popularized anthropology - she was a household name.  She showed that many of the traits that we assumed were biological (especially gender traits) varied from culture to culture.

She has written many famous books.  "Coming of Age in Samoa" is just the most well-known.

Answer 4

just so you know, Derek Freeman's points are essentially dismantled in several books.  it's fairly commonly assumed that he is simply using this attack on Margaret Mead's work to further his own name.  she wrote many books beyond Coming of Age in Samoa and was very important to the field of anthropology.  the american anthropological association's website is a good place to start to find informative links.

Answer 5

One of my professors was one of her graduate students. She said one of Margaret Mead's achievements was to open a place for women in the field. She was never given a full professorship and never really fully respected by the men where she taught. Anthropology was pretty male dominated until recently. Margaret Mead forged a place for women in the field, along with Ruth Fulton Bennedict (spelling?).

Answer 6

Margaret Mead is most widely known for her fieldwork in Samoa under her advisor Franz Boas. She wrote Coming of Age in Samoa, which is based on the idea that growing up and becoming a teenager is not full of strife everywhere, as it is in most Western societies. She is still a highly regarded anthropologist and has many more contributions. Just google her! Good luck!

P.S. check out the info on wikipedia.org