Margaret Mead

Mead studied under Boas at Columbia University. She is well-known for her studies on modern issues relating to adolescence, gender, and more. She made significant discoveries regarding the stress and moodiness American teens face more so than teens of other cultures. Likewise, she studied the role of women in different countries, and established that gender roles varied greatly across cultures. Her personal life is also analyzed in the novel. She was known to have been somewhat averse to monogamy. This was shown in her work and her personal life, as she studied cultural views on monogamy and marriage, as well as married and divorced several times herself. It is even claimed that Mead's friend and teacher, Ruth Benedict, was her lover. Overall, she promoted revolutionary ideas regarding the limitations of gender roles and the potential that women possess.