Margaret Mead and Samoa (1988) - part 6 of 6

With Derek Freeman. Directed by Frank Heimans.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• margaret mead
• anthropology
• samoa
• nature
• nurture
• debate
• derek freeman

[kgs2020]

Thanks for posting the video, a great piece. I don't want to get into taking sides either of Freeman or Mead, but the only thing that becomes clear to me is that science is not done like the way Freeman did. One should be less worried about ruining someone's fame, Freeman must have just published his own insight and interpretation of the culture rather than dismissing the work's certain lines. He must have contributed to the nurture vs. nature debate as one of the professors said in the docu-ry.

[jlsamoa]

I'm not trying to put my people down, but maybe she had something going there....Much love to my people!!...Oute alofa iate Outou TELE, Samoa!!!

[jlsamoa]

Like Tongans, Tahitians, and even Hawai'ians. So I doubt that Samoans would be any less different from the other SISTER-ISLANDS!!

[jlsamoa]

Okay let's be honest though, it's not like she is wrong PERIOD. I mean you guys actually think EVERY girl on the island HAD good virtues?....obviously not! I mean sure the Fa'a Samoa is very strict on such things such as physical intimacy but that doesn't mean that it'll prevent every girl on the island from having thoughts and feelings of sharing her intimate side with other men! And the polynesian women have, for many years, come off as flirty, and inviting to themselves.

[lemon4114]

Thanks for the documentary! I have a great degree of respect for Dr. Freeman for exposing the misleading inferences made by Mead about my culture and the behaviours of my grandparents generation. I have a huge admiration to this man for immersing himself into our culture.. which is more than what I can say for some of the samoan kids of my gen. Im a youngin.. and this last part had me in tears. MUCH RESPECT !

[jaypzl]

Thanks for posting this doc. Very interesting! I haven't read MM's book, but have heard negative comments about it my whole life. I didn't realize the impact it had on Anthropology. Being Samoan, I can understand how an outsider can misinterpret/misread our culture and the nuances of our behavior. Immersing yourself in the culture, as Freeman showed, will get you closer to the truth. Granted MM was very young when she did her study on Samoa, she should have returned to follow up on her findings.

[TaiimaakaNaiima]

I fully agree with Dr Faanaafi Le Tagaloa. I am a Samoan girl and was annoyed by Mead's account of Samoan girls. Mead obviously took our humour way too seriously because she misunderstood how we use it. We Samoans love to make jokes about serious stuff not to hide it, but face it in a positive way where the topic becomes relaxed enough to be talked about, but with a limit of appropriateness.

[Iamthenoi]

Great doc. Thanks for posting. Glad to finish it and find, although Margeret's initial observations were falsified, this doesn't undermine the argument of environmental influence on behaviour, and further adds no support for a purely biological basis of behaviour, as indeed the cultural (environmental) pressures are simply more similar than Margeret wanted to belive.

[bipolarorwakingup]

What a terrific documentary! Thank you so much for posting it. It has helped me a lot with my own research.

[islanderws]

I'm a Samoan who grew up and lived on the island for over 30yrs. Reading Margaret's book and what she did was good for anthropology but a great misunderstanding and misrepresentation of our culture. What Dr. Faanaafi Le Tagaloa said was soo true. Margaret brought her ideas and believes from America and used Samoa as a frame for her theory. All based on a lie from a few teenage girls. Thanks to Dr Freeman! You got to live, speak and be part of a culture in order to find the truth.