Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle

by Lois W. Banner

A uniquely revealing biography of two eminent twentieth century American women. Close friends for much of their lives, Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead met at Barnard College in 1922, when Mead was a student, Benedict a teacher. They became sexual partners (though both married), and pioneered in the then male-dominated discipline of anthropology. They championed racial and sexual equality and cultural relativity despite the generally racist, xenophobic, and homophobic tenor of their era. Mead’s best-selling Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) and Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935), and Benedict’s Patterns of Culture (1934), Race (1940), and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946), were landmark studies that ensured the lasting prominence and influence of their authors in the field of anthropology and beyond.

With unprecedented access to the complete archives of the two women—including hundreds of letters opened to scholars in 2001—Lois Banner examines the impact of their difficult childhoods and the relationship between them in the context of their circle of family, friends, husbands, lovers, and colleagues, as well as the calamitous events of their time. She shows how Benedict inadvertently exposed Mead to charges of professional incompetence, discloses the serious errors New Zealand anthropologist Derek Freeman made in his famed attack on Mead’s research on Samoa, and reveals what happened in New Guinea when Mead and colleagues engaged in a ritual aimed at overturning all gender and sexual boundaries.

In this illuminating and innovative work, Banner has given us the most detailed, balanced, and informative portrait of Mead and Benedict—individually and together—that we have had.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Anthropology, History, LGBT, Womens, Biography Memoir

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

A founder of the field of women's history in the 1970s, Lois Banner is Professor of History Emerita at the University of Southern California. Banner graduated from UCLA, with a Master's Degree in European History and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in American history. Along with Mary Hartman, she founded the Berkshire Conference in Women's History, the biennial conference that has been held ever since and that is considered the major event in the field. She was the first woman president of the American Studies Association, and in 2006 she won the Bode-Pearson prize of the American Studies Association for Lifetime Achievement in the field. Professor Banner is also a past president of the Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association, and of the Coordinating Committee in Women's History of the American Historical Association. She has also been a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, of the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard College, and of the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Reviews

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the disappointment that was Derek Freeman's Margaret Mead and the Heretic: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth, I decided to try this other bio I've had on my shelf for a while to see if Banner's opinion was any different. It was. And it was written better, had better information, and covered more ground. So take that, Freeman!

To be fair, Banner's biography was not solely about Margaret Mead and her time spent in Samoa. Her focus was on Margaret Mead and that other well-known anthropologist, Ruth Benedict. They met when Mead was in college and Benedict was a teacher, which is really how all good romances start, right? Hey, it was the Twenties, and American ladies were all about breaking out of the constrict that was their childhood. Mead and Benedict apparently were no exceptions; a relationship developed even though they both carried on heterosexual relationships as well.

But that's not even what the whole book is about. Banner discusses their relationship, and those relationships with other men and women, their work in the field of anthropology, how and where they were raised, their beliefs, their attitudes, their dreams. These are the kinds of biographies I like, really. The ones that tell you so much more than you ever thought you wanted to know about someone. Banner's research was extensive and impeccable, and she wrote in a way that makes one want to learn about these people.

Banner also discusses in some detail the Samoan hoax, and even references Derek Freeman. Whereas he liked to blame Mead for not even researching the lives of Samoans well or their sexual attitudes, Banner points out that during the time Mead was there the islands had been hit by a hurricane; she suggests that in the aftermath there probably wasn't likely going to be a whole lot of banging going on as the Samoans tried to rebuild their lives and homes.

In any case, I felt Banner at least did her homework. Freeman may have also spent time in Samoa and had different experiences than did Mead, but Banner took the time to read diary entries, letters, etc., which is just as important. Banner's biography is of two specific women, but also that of their friends and even their society as American attitudes began to change. That's much more interesting to me than some joker who just wants to challenge someone's previous research.

This book makes me (again) want to be an anthropologist.

[Ginger K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. And I did learn biographical information about Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, and a great deal of historical information about America in the early twentieth century, particularly between the world wars. Unfortunately, the sexual relationship between the two alluded to on the cover is not well supported in the text - the primary supporting source is a poem, Banner's interpretation of which left me scratching my head. Mead and Benedict's other romantic entanglements, however, are more clearly presented - both queer and straight.

It is also a slow read, quite dense with detail. During the month I was actively reading it, I sometimes refered to it as The Book That's Trying to Kill Me, because its endurance was clearly greater than my own. Honestly, I probably would have liked it more had I not been woefully misled by cover copy.

[Sandy D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the biography of two famous female anthropologists, mostly in the years from 1900-1940. The book really draws you in, using a gossipy style with lots of fascinating quotes from both Mead’s & Benedict’s unpublished letters, diaries, etc., as well as letters from Mead’s three husbands, family members, college roommates, and many other famous anthropologists. It is very well-researched, and explains the background to many wild stories I heard as a grad student in anthropology.

It also gives the reader a good background in the history of feminism, homosexuality, psychology and anthropology, and academia in general. I was particularly amazed by many of the things I learned about feminists in the 1920’s and early 30’s. Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict were really on the cutting edge when it came to studying gender, sex, and race, and a lot of what they wrote is very relevant today.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating and deeply personal book on the lives of Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead. From following their family lineage through each one's education and contributions, this book illuminated their belief system and how it changed as well as the challenges they faced as women in the newly forming anthropology field of study. This could have been a rather dry tome focusing on their ethnographies and books about which much has already been written. Instead, I relished being given an overview of their projects and instead learning specifics about the dramatic turns and relationships of their lives. Recommended for anyone who is more interested in the women themselves than of their works.

[Silvio111 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is one unending soap opera , primarily concerned with Margaret Mead's various affairs, dramas, and sex life.

I have only read less than half of it, but it is just a bit too voyeuristic for my taste. I may read a little more, but will probably abandon it, sorry to say.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

incredibly dense, detailed portrayal of two rockstar anthropologists. read like an endless series of academic papers which did tire out my brain but the wacky life of margaret mead in particular made this a quite interesting read

[Jenny Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. I really didn’t know much about Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, and hadn’t a clue that they were lovers, so that was a revelation. They are both amazing women and I really appreciated the chance to get to know them better.

The book follows Mead and Benedict from birth, covers their relationship with each other and their relationships with others, lingers on their work, and continues until Benedict’s death. One of the book’s flaws is that it then ends, leaving me to wish for another chapter, a picture of Mead’s remaining years.

This book is not gossipy or sensational in the slightest. If anything, it sometimes sinks under the weight of its scholarship. It spends a great deal of time on the intellectual atmosphere around them, and their participation in that. The writer is very painstaking in her analysis of social attitudes towards lesbians. She traces Benedict’s and Mead’s philosophical paths in a variety of areas: sexual freedom, gender roles, progressive political beliefs, race, anthropological approaches. She shows how Mead and Benedict influenced each other and how they differed, as well as how they were influenced by the other people around them.

So much theory can sometimes make things a little dry, and these women were anything but dry. However, it’s not just a biography of Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict, but also a description of the times in which they lived - how they were shaped by it, and how they shaped it. It’s definitely worth reading.

[jrendocrine at least reading is good · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got to p 170 of 443 - but I have to give up in a fit of pique.
Typical backstory - read and loved Euphoria, got interested in Margaret Mead, read somewhere that this was a good book. It's not. In fact, it might make you dislike Mead...
Overall - it's 2 biographies in one - Mead and Ruth Benedict, who the biographer (Lois Banner) contends had a life long love affair. Banner is more interested in sister politics (and myth making) than in Mead. The research is sophomoric - and the assertions endless and not credible. It's not that I don't think that Mead did or didn't have a love relationship with Benedict - I just don't care. That is not what makes her interesting.

Oh - and the writing is awful. Here is a typical paragraph at which I can only shake my head in amazement:
"From her arrival at Barnard, Margaret took charge; she had learned her lesson well at Depauw. Her energetic, outspoken manner attracted insecure young women to her. Even the gifted Leonie Adams was so shy that she often blushed when spoken to. Deb Kaplan went to Margaret for what sounds like training in how to influence others. Margaret advised her to be useful and amusing - and to use flattery whenever possible. Deb appreciated the advice but she thought that when Margaret followed it herself she too often told others what they wanted to hear. It's no wonder that Deb described her as a Yankee."

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT????
Ugh.

[Emalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that reading about Margaret Mead was so fascinating. I have always thought she was interesting, but did not know until I found this book that she was at all queer. It seems clear from her choices over her lifetime that she was truly bisexual (using today's terminology) but that she struggled with the definition & experience of her sexuality. I felt a fair amount of sympathy and empathy with her vascillations, even these many decades later. Ruth Benedict was also an interesting character though her life was less thoroughly explored.

My critique mostly has to do with the author's far-reaching conclusions about these two women based on their writings and letters. She would make a statement about their beliefs based on some slim evidence or her own interpretation of one of their poems. Also, she would spend long, long passages detailing the intellectual activities of both Ruth & Margaret as well as all the anthropologists in their circles. This was at times interesting, at times truly not compelling.

This would have been a stronger work with more crisp editing and if the author could decide if she was most interested in the personal or intellectual lives of her subjects.

[Chris Beal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a thoroughly researched biography and absolutely fascinating. I marked it as read, but actually I read around in it -- it's not necessary to read chronologically. The author seems to have an agenda -- that of showing the multiplicity and commonality of lesbian relationships at a time when such things were kept under cover -- but that agenda doesn't keep her from doing an excellent job of opening up the lives of these two famous women. Highly recommended both for the curious layperson and for those in feminist studies and the social sciences.

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those deeply interested in the development of anthropology--both as an academic discipline and in field studies among indigenous peoples--and in gender studies in the early 20th century will love this book. I found it too detailed overall, although the parts about the lives and relationships of the two women were worthwhile. Because the book is centered on the relationship between Benedict and Mead, it ends with the death of Benedict, who died 30 years before Mead did. I was disappointed that it didn't cover those last 30 years of Mead's life and career.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and well researched book about the complicated and "intertwined lives" of Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and their close friends. I would say a must read book for anyone interested in anthropology.

[Sheryl]

Wonderful women, but tedious, long, agonizing prose