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Quiz Name	Margaret Mead
Appendix (for reading content...etc) Read the passage 'Margaret Mead'. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the reading passage. Reading time: 3 minutes Margaret Mead Anthropologist Margaret Mead is known for her groundbreaking research on the effects of culture on gender roles. Her working hypothesis was that if gender behavior was the effect purely of biology, then what was considered masculine and feminine would be the same in all cultures. If gender behavior differed in different cultures, this would demonstrate that gender behavior resulted from culture rather than biology. To test this hypothesis, Mead studied three different societies in New Guinea. The first society that she studied was the Arapesh. In this society, she observed that behavior by men and behavior by women were remarkably similar. She found that both men and women exhibited characteristics that are traditionally considered feminine: they were sensitive to each others’ feelings and expressed emotions. The second society that she studied in New Guinea were the Mundugumor, which was a society of headhunters and cannibals. The society was the opposite of the gentle and feminine Arapesh. In this second society, both men and woman exhibited characteristics that are traditionally considered male: they were harsh and aggressive. In the third society that she studied, the Tchambuli, Mead found that males and females exhibited very different types of behavior. What was unusual was that the roles were the opposite of what we have come to expect. Mead found that in this society, the men were emotional and submissive to the women, and the women were dominant and aggressive. Based on these findings, Margaret Mead came to the conclusion that culture, more than biology, determines gender behavior. Main idea of the reading passage: Margaret Mead’s studies of three societies in New Guinea Major points in the reading passage: first society = both men and women have “feminine” characteristics second society = both men and women have “masculine” characteristics third society = men have “feminine” characteristics, women have “masculine” characteristics conclusion = gender characteristics come more from society than from biology Now listen to the passage. On a piece of paper, take notes on the main points of the listening passage. [audio\|src:'\listening\toefl_begin\CD4-31.mp3?20210805'\|wait:185] Now I’d like to talk about what some critics have to say about Margaret Mead’s research. There is one very general criticism that comes out in critical reviews of Mead’s work. This general criticism of Mead’s work is that what she saw in the three societies that she studied was just too pat, too neat, that it all fit too neatly into specific categories. She found these three societies that exhibited remarkably different gender roles, three societies that neatly fit into categories that she was looking to fill. IT’s not very normal for any society to have behavior that’s so extreme, where one can say that all the people in the society act in the same extreme way. IT’s not very common, in anthropological research, in the study of human societies, that people fit very neatly into a limited number of categories because humans are far more complex than that. Stated another way, this general criticism of Mead is that perhaps shew as looking for societies that exhibit certain extreme behaviors as a whole, and when she found these three particular societies, she paid more attention to the behaviors that fit in with the theory she was trying to prove and perhaps did not pay enough attention to the behaviors that didn’t fit into her theory. Main idea of the listening passage: criticisms of Mead’s research Major points in the listening passage: results “too neat” (research not usually this tidy) results suggest Mead found what she was looking for rather than what was there Now answer the following question: How does the information in the listening passage cast doubt on the points made in the listening passage? Coming soon. Coming soon. Sample Answer: Coming soon. Coming soon. Coming soon.
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Margaret Mead