The Place of Women Sexual conduct and gender roles di

Such studies have been conducted for some time, and they involve particular methodological issues and sources of error which should be understood. One of the most important ethnographic researches offering data on sex roles and gender socialization was that of Margaret Mead, who conducted research in Samoa in the 1930s and further research later in New Guinea. From the first, Mead was criticized for her methodology, her conclusions, and for the emphasis she would place on one aspect of the social organization of Samoa over another. Derek Freeman in his critique of Mead addresses a number of issues related to Mead's methodology and more to ways in which he feels she may have been in error in what she saw in Samoan society or in the way she ranked certain behaviors or explained them theoretically. To make his criticism, Freeman does more than read what Mead has written and extrapolate to his own conceptions--he instead turns to the Samoans themselves and to subsequent research t

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ural ideal, she notes, "a state of denial of the fertility potential, initiated at menarche and achieved by remaining sexually inactive" (Newman 81). Menstruation, in terms of a woman's own life experience, is an important and dramatic event indicating the beginning of a reproductive lifetime. It is a turning point in the life cycle, which brings a change of status in some instances. Since menstruation is continuing and expectable, it becomes a part of each personal tradition, while changes in the regularity of menstrual bleeding often become as dramatic as the first, occurrence. In her comparative study of India and the United States, Newman notes several important differences. In India, the first menstruation is regarded as an announcement of fertility, and as such takes on special significance. Public rituals are performed at puberty to announce a girl's potential fertility and availability for marriage. A girl who has reached menarche and remains unmarried is considered dangerous to her father's house. Her potential fertility is regarded as inappropriate in this context, and must be "assigned" to a lineage other than her father's through betrothal and marriage (Newman 84). The blood of menstruation is considered pollu
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Crossing Florida, Highlands Society, According Hua, Samoa Samoan, United Newman, Women India, Yucatan Mexico--Jordan, Birth Cultures, Derek Freeman, According Newman, strong passions, samoan people, adult roles, pregnancy childbirth, birth practices, birth child, emotional strength, status change, menstruation childbirth, cambridge cambridge university, own society, susan greenhalgh ed, cambridge university press, university press 1995, primary adult roles,
Approximate Word count = 4033
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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