Gender: masculine and feminine, woman and man. Traditionally, both sexes have been differentiated and considered to have different characteristics and roles. The passive, obedient and loving woman who raises and takes care of the children and her home. The hard, dominant and aggressive man, whose mission is to work and provide for the family.
These roles have been considered certain and natural throughout history, and have led to criticism and repulsion towards those people who deviated from them. Even today it is not uncommon to hear criticism that someone is unmasculine/feminine. But gender roles are not something natural but a social construction, which in different cultures may not be shared. Knowing this fact, which has allowed gender equality over time, Margaret Mead’s gender theory has greatly contributed.
Born in 1901, at a time in history when The differences between men and women were considered to be due to their biological differences Innate qualities being the productive man and the expressive woman, Margaret Mead was an American psychologist and anthropologist whose field of interest focused on researching the culture and ways of raising children in different cultures, and how these have an effect on the development of the human being.
Mead made numerous trips throughout his life analyzing different cultures and the differences they presented between them and with respect to Western culture, observing among other aspects that the consideration of the role of each sex could vary enormously depending on the beliefs of the population.
In this context, She would be one of the pioneers in describing the concept of gender separating gender roles from biological sex.
Analysis of cultural groups in New Guinea
One of Mead’s most emblematic works regarding the genre appears in the book Sex and temperament in three primitive societies, based on his analysis of different ethnic groups of New Guinea in which the roles attributed to both sexes differed greatly from the traditional roles considered by the Western world.
Specifically, Margaret Mead analyzed the Arapesh, Tchambuli and Mundugumor tribes. In Arapesh society he observed that regardless of biological sex, all individuals were raised in a way that assumed a calm, peaceful and affable behavior close to what in the West would be considered feminine.
His observations about the tchambuli would reflect that in that society The woman dedicates herself to the search for sustenance in activities such as fishing and leads the community, while the man performs household chores, assuming behaviors attributed to the other gender in other societies and showing greater sensitivity in aspects such as art and the search for beauty. In other words, the gender roles of that society could have been considered the reverse of Western ones.
Finally, the behavior of the Mundugumor is practically the opposite of that of the Arapesh, both sexes being educated in a way that makes them aggressive, violent and competitive in a way similar to what would be considered typically masculine at that time.
Margaret Mead’s Gender Theory
Observations in these and other societies reflected that in different cultures the roles attributed to men and women were different. From this it is deduced that, contrary to what was thought at the time, The biological differences between both sexes do not determine social functioning that men and women should have, but it is upbringing and cultural transmission that encourages the existence of most social differences.
In this way, the behavior, roles and traits attributed to each sex are not linked to the sex itself. The reason that in some places the role is one or the other can be found in the fact that each culture, in its beginnings, establishes a desirable character or pattern of action for its components. A pattern that ends up being internalized and replicated through generations.
Based on it, The author considered that the rigidity of gender roles had to be reduced and the differences that these entail, so that both sexes could develop fully.
Consequences of Mead’s theory
Mead’s theory of gender, which reflects gender as a social construction, has had repercussions in various ways. The search for gender equality and the progressive blurring of gender roles and stereotypes have been facilitated by this research.
Likewise, although the author did not place great emphasis on it in her research, she has also contributed and encouraged other researchers to contribute to demolishing myths and beliefs regarding sexual orientation and identity.
