Then the American Anthropologist (Brady ed.

Members of the American Anthropological Association who attended the 1983 annual meeting were so threatened by this book that in a strangely ideological and completely unscientific response they voted to publicly criticize the magazine Science 83 for suggesting that Freeman’s book would make an interesting Christmas gift because it raised important controversial issues.

And when Derek Freeman’s book, Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth was published refuting Mead’s description of Samoan culture and calling it a monumental error, American anthropologists largely reacted to the perceived threat to their cultural icon and to what they viewed the public image of anthropology to be, rather than to the scientific issue of the truth or error of Freeman’s conclusions. She thus entered the public world of achievement, outside the boundary of the home that prescribes anonymity to most women, and mingled with major figures in science and politics.Īs a result, there developed a personality cult around Mead as a culture heroine. But at the same time she had a visibly successful career as an anthropologist, perhaps perceived as more successful by those outside of anthropology than inside. Thus, to the eyes of her audience she occupied successfully the accepted female role of mother and wife, albeit she had several divorces, to the extent that Time magazine referred to her in her later years as the Mother of the World.

In her public career she resolved a set of major conflicting values in American society that afflict the female role. Whether by accident or design, or a combination of both, Margaret Mead became an American culture heroine.

Coming of age margaret mead