Burk Bosse

9/1/13
Cultural Anthropology
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was born in Philadelphia, Pa; her parents were both
social scientists that with a liberal view influenced Margaret greatly. She
started her studies at De Pauw and when she won over her father to allow
her to go Barnard, womens College of Columbia University, thats when she
began to blossom both socially and intellectually.
Progressive Barnard required its undergraduates to take courses in
social science, and Mead was happy enough with her sociology and
psychology classes, thinking about following in her mothers footsteps
(Peter Mandler, 2013). After graduating in 1923 from Barnard she then took a
psychology class to get her Masters. As time went by Margaret started to use
her college courses and formed her varied views of abortion, Marijuana,
womens rights and in most cases was against them.
She felt that Marijuana should not be legalized and it shouldnt have
been criminalized either, but since it was criminalized, to legalize it then
would have only added more problems among the young people, as their

curiosity would only lead to abuse of the plant. Her views on abortion were
not much different.
As stated by Patricia Grinager, in her book, Uncommon Lives, My
lifelong friendship with Margaret Meade We should not be permitting
abortion as a way of life she advised. To argue for a womans right to
abortion is absurd. Women have a right to the institutions which will see to it
that they never have an unwanted child. She dubbed abortion as
barbarous and deplored the underlying cause-insufficient sex education.
She married George Cressman who took a Vicar position at his first
parish. After she had finally graduated with her Masters, she decided to
study the people of the South Pacific. She also wrote her memoirs and other
books regarding her profession and her thoughts on different social values.
She returned to college in 1952, when her sons ranged in age from two to
eight years old to prepare her for gainful employment. (Grinager, 1999). She
was a teacher, Speaker and gave a Seminar on Psycho-Culture Dynamics:
Personality, Society, and Politics. And Lectures on The Adolescent in
Contemporary Society: Coming of Age in America and Aging, The Battered
Woman to mention a few.
To stop here would do Margaret Mead a disservice, but all her
accomplishments cannot be listed in two to three pages. She was a very
sought after and celebrated person and I believe had the world followed her
thoughts and opinions we would have lived in a better world now. I mean

she put her life in her studies, in her work, and in humanity in order that we
would have a better understanding of our fellow man whether we live in
Europe, the Americas or the South Pacific.

References
Grinager, P. (1999). Uncommon lives my lifelong friendship with margaret mead. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Howard, J. (1984). Margaret mead; A life. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Mandler, P. (2013). Return from the natives. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.