Margaret Mead: Sex and Temperament Juan Gastelum

Margaret Mead Born: December 16, 1901 Death: November 15, 1978 Ph.D. in Anthropology Field work in South Pacific 3 husbands Only one Daughter Most Famous Anthropologist in U.S.

Temperament Dictionary Definition Mead’s Definition “a person's or animal's nature, especially as it permanently affects their behavior.” Mead’s Definition A person’s way of being due to their cultural background and teachings from birth

Sexuality Men Women Strong Providers Pro-War Masculine Nurturing/ Kind/ Gentle Supportive Against War Feminine

Summary “It is very simply, an account of how 3 primitive societies have grouped their social attitudes toward temperament about the very obvious facts of sex-differences” Mead Radical Groups could admit that men and women are capable of being molded equally Explains that your upbringings determine your behavior “We must recognize that beneath the superficial classifications of sex and race the same potentialities exist, recurring generation after generation, only to perish because society has no place for them”

Thoughts “It will not be by the mere abolition of these distinctions that society will develop patterns in which individual gifts are given place instead of being forced to into an ill-fitting mold. If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”