This scrapbook helps represent my character, Margaret Mead’s life because it included everything that was important to her from her family to her trips to study people in other cultures as well as a definition of what she did. Although Margaret’s life could not completely be put in the scrapbook I had created I believe I captured the most important events and people that were in her life. The sheer numbers of the trips Margaret makes to Islands in Samoa, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea and the Sepik territory, shows how devoted Margaret was to her work. It also showed that she really cared about her work as well as the cultures and people she studied. The fact that the majority of the scrapbook and the information found on her were about her studies just shows how driven she was over her work and her life was based around working. This scrapbook would also probably remind Margaret of her memories in the other countries studying the people as well as the men she shared her work trips with. Through her travels which have been documented through the scrapbook she also met some men who became husbands or very good friends. Through this page it reflects on her life that men, especially her husbands were influences on her especially in her work. However, she easily changed her mind showing that there was a side of indecision to her except when it came to work. After looking at her husbands it becomes clear that every time she gets a new husband an aspect of her work also changes. Showing the connection between her husbands and her work which her life was pretty much based around. This scrapbook helps represent her devotion to her work as an anthropologist and how her husbands affect her to look into different or new ways to study the people for her research. Thus the majority of the scrapbook relates to her work as an anthropologist in some form. However, Margaret’s devotion to work was not the only thing the scrapbook describes.
Through looking at the scrapbook on Margaret Mead’s life there is much to learn. This scrapbook represents her life because it captures what is important to her especially family. Her family is especially important because she formed good bonds between her and her grandmother. The scrapbook captures the close bond between her and her grandmother who was also her teacher. Through looking at her family it becomes prevalent that her parents and their jobs influenced and inspired Margaret to follow in similar paths creating new and improved ideas on anthropology. Her child, Mary Catherine Bateson also proves to be represented in the scrapbook which shows that Margaret did in fact inspire people even her own daughter because her daughter also became an anthropologist. The impact family had on Margaret was incredible because every one of them inspired or influenced her as well as supported all of her decisions. The grandmother was especially helpful because she nurtured Margaret’s brain as well as taught Margaret what she needed to know. Margaret had the closest bond with her grandmother. Her close bond with her grandmother could be seen through the letter she wrote to her while she was in college explaining how college was going and that she found a new interest, anthropology.
Margaret Mead is a one of the kind person that innovated the science of anthropology to look beyond cultural differences and how technologically advanced they are compared to the United States, but how their culture is based. Her ability to question the way anthropologists had previously studied and compared preliterate cultures to developed cultures caused a major change that was controversial at times. This new method she came up with caused a major change that would forever change the way anthropologists studied cultures allowing a more scientific approach. Thus normalcy1 for the cultures was no longer based on the “ideal society and culture” but now based on the dynamic of the culture and the development within the culture. Therefore, Margaret causes a dramatic change because most people and some anthropologists were used to saying that preliterate and understudied cultures are worse than the culture of a country in Europe or in America because their normalcy is different. Margaret’s ways proved to have multiple followers but as well as several critics on her new theories and how she portrayed certain tribes. But as she grew in popularity because of her books, even though she was a woman she was not suppressed as she would have been a century ago. The fact that she was a woman proved that she was changing the traditional ways. Although there was some criticism against Margaret’s new discoveries no group of people went to such extreme measures like the KKK2 to suppress her ideas and promote theirs instead. Nevertheless, a group similar to the KKK does seem extreme to try to suppress new beliefs and women, there must have been some people that really did not like Margaret’s new innovation for watching the people in a different place especially through drawings by little children and how they change as they get older. In the end Margaret’s ways of studying anthropology in different cultures caused more change than keeping to the same old traditional ways. However, through her new ways on seeing cultures compared to each other were not the only thing that was radical that changed during the 1920’s.
Margaret Mead caused multiple changes in her life through her work and through her love affairs. The ways of Margaret Mead caused more change than it did in the traditional aspect especially when it came to marriage. Marriage in the past was a permanent thing that only happened once. While during the 1920’s for Margaret Mead she was able to have three different husbands in her life. This showed that there had been a major change; however, she was not a flapper3 either but she still managed to have several husbands and possible love affairs. These new actions that especially women could get away with helped prove that Margaret did fit in with the changing of traditional values or ways within reason. Margaret did not go crazy like a flapper and go to speakeasies4 to play games and get drunk, she just fell in love multiple times as well as possibly explore her sexuality. Margaret Mead’s devotion to her work caused dramatic change. Through her devotion she was able to use scientific management5 to make studying anthropology more efficient through her extensive field notes as well as her photos and books. She caused a drastic change within anthropology because she explored new ways on how to interpret and study people from different cultures. Also through her study on other people she came to the conclusion that diversity was a good thing thus the National Origin Acts6 was a bad thing because it limited diversity in the United States. Through her studies she saw that although cultures varied some aspects had been built off of each other. Even though, some aspects of the culture may have been ineffective in a different culture it worked for them and that was what really mattered. Therefore, she was also against the Palmer Raids7 because she did not believe that just because people were different did not mean they were better or worse than her but they were rather unique in their own sense like she was. Her work guided her on amazing realizations that everyone is different and unlike the Scopes Trial8 she did show the different ways the children in other cultures especially the preliterate ones that they evolved differently than the children in the United States. Though her worked compared the Samoan children, as well as the children from other cultures to the culture in the United States she did show that they had different traditions and beliefs causing this different change. Although Margaret’s way of showing evolution was different than the Scopes trial she did express evolution through a scientific study and that evolution between cultures is not a bad thing. Thus it helps show that Margaret Mead is more on the changing traditional values side than maintaining them. In the end Margaret tended to push the already strained barriers to open up new opportunities for everyone especially anthropologists and women.
Through looking at the scrapbook on Margaret Mead’s life there is much to learn. This scrapbook represents her life because it captures what is important to her especially family. Her family is especially important because she formed good bonds between her and her grandmother. The scrapbook captures the close bond between her and her grandmother who was also her teacher. Through looking at her family it becomes prevalent that her parents and their jobs influenced and inspired Margaret to follow in similar paths creating new and improved ideas on anthropology. Her child, Mary Catherine Bateson also proves to be represented in the scrapbook which shows that Margaret did in fact inspire people even her own daughter because her daughter also became an anthropologist. The impact family had on Margaret was incredible because every one of them inspired or influenced her as well as supported all of her decisions. The grandmother was especially helpful because she nurtured Margaret’s brain as well as taught Margaret what she needed to know. Margaret had the closest bond with her grandmother. Her close bond with her grandmother could be seen through the letter she wrote to her while she was in college explaining how college was going and that she found a new interest, anthropology.
Margaret Mead is a one of the kind person that innovated the science of anthropology to look beyond cultural differences and how technologically advanced they are compared to the United States, but how their culture is based. Her ability to question the way anthropologists had previously studied and compared preliterate cultures to developed cultures caused a major change that was controversial at times. This new method she came up with caused a major change that would forever change the way anthropologists studied cultures allowing a more scientific approach. Thus normalcy1 for the cultures was no longer based on the “ideal society and culture” but now based on the dynamic of the culture and the development within the culture. Therefore, Margaret causes a dramatic change because most people and some anthropologists were used to saying that preliterate and understudied cultures are worse than the culture of a country in Europe or in America because their normalcy is different. Margaret’s ways proved to have multiple followers but as well as several critics on her new theories and how she portrayed certain tribes. But as she grew in popularity because of her books, even though she was a woman she was not suppressed as she would have been a century ago. The fact that she was a woman proved that she was changing the traditional ways. Although there was some criticism against Margaret’s new discoveries no group of people went to such extreme measures like the KKK2 to suppress her ideas and promote theirs instead. Nevertheless, a group similar to the KKK does seem extreme to try to suppress new beliefs and women, there must have been some people that really did not like Margaret’s new innovation for watching the people in a different place especially through drawings by little children and how they change as they get older. In the end Margaret’s ways of studying anthropology in different cultures caused more change than keeping to the same old traditional ways. However, through her new ways on seeing cultures compared to each other were not the only thing that was radical that changed during the 1920’s.
Margaret Mead caused multiple changes in her life through her work and through her love affairs. The ways of Margaret Mead caused more change than it did in the traditional aspect especially when it came to marriage. Marriage in the past was a permanent thing that only happened once. While during the 1920’s for Margaret Mead she was able to have three different husbands in her life. This showed that there had been a major change; however, she was not a flapper3 either but she still managed to have several husbands and possible love affairs. These new actions that especially women could get away with helped prove that Margaret did fit in with the changing of traditional values or ways within reason. Margaret did not go crazy like a flapper and go to speakeasies4 to play games and get drunk, she just fell in love multiple times as well as possibly explore her sexuality. Margaret Mead’s devotion to her work caused dramatic change. Through her devotion she was able to use scientific management5 to make studying anthropology more efficient through her extensive field notes as well as her photos and books. She caused a drastic change within anthropology because she explored new ways on how to interpret and study people from different cultures. Also through her study on other people she came to the conclusion that diversity was a good thing thus the National Origin Acts6 was a bad thing because it limited diversity in the United States. Through her studies she saw that although cultures varied some aspects had been built off of each other. Even though, some aspects of the culture may have been ineffective in a different culture it worked for them and that was what really mattered. Therefore, she was also against the Palmer Raids7 because she did not believe that just because people were different did not mean they were better or worse than her but they were rather unique in their own sense like she was. Her work guided her on amazing realizations that everyone is different and unlike the Scopes Trial8 she did show the different ways the children in other cultures especially the preliterate ones that they evolved differently than the children in the United States. Though her worked compared the Samoan children, as well as the children from other cultures to the culture in the United States she did show that they had different traditions and beliefs causing this different change. Although Margaret’s way of showing evolution was different than the Scopes trial she did express evolution through a scientific study and that evolution between cultures is not a bad thing. Thus it helps show that Margaret Mead is more on the changing traditional values side than maintaining them. In the end Margaret tended to push the already strained barriers to open up new opportunities for everyone especially anthropologists and women.