Margaret Mead vs Derek Freeman

[MichaelHarris]

I'm working on an essay about the controversy between Mead and a New Zealand anthropologist named Derek Freeman. He basically waited until Mead died to trash her work entitled, "Coming of Age in Samoa" Freeman gained his only "fame" with his book trashing Mead during the Reagan administration; conservatives loved him, in fact on various conservative website, including our favorite, they list "Coming of Age.." as one of the worst books ever written. There are a number of reasons conservatives claim to hate Mead.

Her sexuality would probably cause them to discredit her, she was bisexual. Maybe her conclusions in "Coming of Age...", A sort of adolescent free sex society. On the other hand she was tremendously pro-American, even saying some cultures would be happier if they were more like us.

If anyone has any input pertaining to the conservative hatred of Mead and the love they have for Freeman I sure would appreciate it. My professor and I actually discussed adding a study of the "new" Conservative Mind,what brought it to this point and how did it get so crazy?

Some Conservative sites promote the Freeman over Mead debate even though his work has, for the most part, been discredited. In fact, a new book about this will be released in mid-December I think.

Thoughts, tips, input?

Thanks

[BrklynLiberal]

1. No help, but that sure is an interesting topic..

[MichaelHarris]

3. Thanks

I was able to deviate from the syllabus, I presented some of the info I had found to my professor and he was excited to see what I come up with.

[depakid]

2. Might be interesting to come at that with Bateson's writings in mind.

[MichaelHarris]

4. the

daughter? I was able to find a book she put together containing letters Mead wrote to other anthropologists. It had some very good information.

[depakid]

5. Gregory Bateson, the systems scientist- though Mary's work might have interesting angles too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Bateson

http://www.marycatherinebateson.com/

[defendandprotect]

6. Margaret Mead was an early representation of femine intelligence, power ...

so the right wing has NEVER liked here and have always wanted to destroy her

information.

It's been a long time since I've read any of what she's written, but if the

right wing is attacking it, you can be sure it's not in the interests of "science" -- 1!!

[MichaelHarris]

7. it's getting complex

it's as if the information is there, bubbling under the surface of the story. I've found fragments from conservative sources, even Fox News. I'm tempted to refer the the Conservative anthropologist as "The Rupert Murdoch of anthropology". What makes it hard is the only work the guy ever did was trash Mead, he has no other scholarly work. The undercurrent seems to be that he gathered his "proof" while teaching at missionary schools in Samoa. The time difference between his work and Mead's is pretty significant. The girls who told Mead of their way of life converted to Christianity AFTER Mead interviewed them and BEFORE Freeman talked to them. When he talked to the girls, now women, the missionaries had convinced them premarital sex was a grave sin. Freeman never used this information in his text. Basically, just like Fox reports the news.

[defendandprotect]

9. Coincidentally, a friend had just been talking about Margaret Mead ...

she was more familiar with her -- and she was commenting that the real attacks

began after she died and she commented that someone had written a book criticizing

her AFTER her death when she couldn't respond. Don't know if it's the same author

you're mentioning.

You might find some better sources of information from women's groups -- though so

much now has been scrubbed from the internet and distorted, I'm not sure what you

can still find. If you can find a source for old newsreels, you might also find

some more info on her.

Good luck --

:)


EDITED ... I just tried a quick search and I'm sure you've come upon this, but she
has a daughter --

Margaret Mead died in 1978, leaving behind a daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson - a distinguished anthropologist in her own right - and a voluminous body of research, which still sheds light on human behavior today.

and there are some other links at that site which may be of help?

http://www.meadspecial.org/


There's also this link which makes clear why she would be a thorn in the side of the right wing ...

Mead's work spanned many cultures, so she was interested in all areas of difference between groups and how to transcend these. As a scientist, she had a broad sense of the relevance of anthropology to social action. As a public figure, she spoke out on and wrote about race relations, gender roles, culture, environmental justice, education, health and nutrition, child rearing, and self empowerment within communities.

http://www.interculturalstudies.org/Mead/index.html


AND ... this site at the very bottom of the page offers other "resources" including film --

http://www.interculturalstudies.org/Mead/biography.html


ALSO -- This one seems to offer interesting insights --
in fact, given all of this, obviously I have to begin reading more about her!
But, she clearly was taking on our whole culture and that is a big disturbance to patriarchy.
Especially, sexually, which is a prime area for their control over human nature.
Organized patriarchal religion is the enforcer on that -- and they continue to fight to keep
control over female reproduction.


Introduction

Margaret Mead was a distinguished anthropologist, an intellectual and a scientist. She is the author of numerous books on primitive societies and she also wrote about many contemporary issues. Some of the areas in which she was prominent were education, ecology, the women's movement, the bomb, and student uprisings.

Margaret Mead was a woman who blended knowledge and action. Time, in fact, named her "Mother of the World" in 1969. In the political realm she served as a diplomat, without a portfolio, to many presidents in the areas of ecology and nutrition. She also had a great deal of concern about the role of science and technology in world politics.

http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/margaretmead.html

Think you have a GREAT subject here!

[MichaelHarris]

10. Thank you very much!

Some of that I hadn't seen!

[Kickin_Donkey]

8. Sorry, I can't give you any insight into Derek Freeman ...

but in the early '80s I was in college and taking cultural anthropology courses. As I think back, I vaguely remember the Freeman critique of Mead's "Coming of Age" coming up in one course.

I can't remember much, but I recall the charge that Mead had her own biases in the form of seeing Samoan culture as a woman through the eyes of teenage Samoan girls who may have "led her on." I may have more in my notes -- I kept them all.

On a tangential note, my professor for that class humorously made that fieldwork sound like a melodramatic soap opera. Mead's lover (?) at the time was a man named Reo Fortune. Talk about a cinematic-sounding name in the prewar era.