Microblogs for Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 1

Summary
The importance of childhood and adolescence has long been studied and considered to be affected by two things: psychology and the hardships of growing up. But with so many different civilizations and their associated ways of life or standards of living, it can be difficult to determine which of the two is more important. Anthropology is argued to be the best course of study for this endeavor. Margaret Mead proposes to find the answer to the following questions: Are the disturbances which vex our adolescents due to the nature of adolescence itself or to the civilization? Under different conditions does adolescence present a different picture? To this end, Mead sought to travel to Samoa and study the lives of Samoan girls from birth and through adolescence.

Discussion
I find the questions Mead is trying to answer are very important and can provide great insight into civilization and humanity. But I am struggling to become interested in finding the answer to them. It is hard to determine how this could be applied or used for some other good.

Chapter 2

Summary
This chapter describes a day in Samoa, with the sounds of the wildlife at the start of the day, boys fishing, and, on this particular day, a messenger arriving with word of the death of a relative from another village. Villagers' occupations are further detailed throughout the day, with many taking breaks and having food at noon. Elderly and little children are first to bed just after supper, while much of the village is in dance, music or even more fishing. Thus, sleep doesn't set in for the whole village until after midnight sometimes.

Discussion
I found it a little hard reading this chapter, as it was incredibly descriptive and the paragraphs were each rather long. I found it interesting that, in this culture much different from American culture, a similar basic formula is found: work during the day and play at night.

Appendix II: Methodology of this Study

Summary
Mead describes the methodology for her study. She only worked with a small group of six hundred people. within the observation area. Of these, there were only sixty-eight girls between the ages of nine and twenty. She also explains she analyzed each household by rank, wealth and location. Individuals were also analyzed by age, sex, relationship to others and marital statuses.

Discussion
I found it admirable that Mead primarily acknowledged and detailed the limitations of her study.

Appendix V:  Materials Upon Which the Analysis is Based

Summary
Mead elaborates on the distribution of girls in her study. Tables are given which list each girl's sexual experiences and family structure. A sample fact sheet that was filled out for each girl was also shown.

Discussion
I was very surprised and pleased by how detailed and informative the tables were. She was very thorough with how she organized the girls.

Chapter 3: The Education of the Samoan Child

Summary
This chapter describes many of the duties and responsibilities for Samoan children. In particular, the care and raising of newborn Samoan infants is typically left to the next youngest child of the same sex in the family, not the parents. But there are differences between female and male children, the first of which is that boys are relieved of baby-tending responsibilities by age eight or nine, while girls must stay with it longer. This is because less emphasis is placed on girls for "working"; by the time they are strong enough to carry heavy loads to help out with fishing or plantations are they relieved of baby-tending.

Discussion
I thought it was very strange that taking care of the young children or newborns was left to other children in the family. Indeed, this is a great departure from the childhood responsibilities for American children. I'm sure most of us could have managed it ourselves, but I wonder how differently we would grow up to be. I also found it interesting that the birth of a child is celebrated so briefly that even that same day, it is given little attention. American newborns are usually celebrated long after the birthday. On that note, I personally do not care for birthdays, though not to the same extent as Samoans.

Chapter 4: The Samoan Household

Summary
This chapter discussed much of the various village titles and roles, such as matai, the head of the house, and taupo, the princess of the house, as well as the means of acquiring those titles. Rank and title are generally more important than age or birth. Similarly, a village's status depends on the rank of its high chief. In addition, children, and indeed anyone, are free to flee to another household if they feel unsafe or unhappy with their current household.

Discussion
I was somewhat surprised and even a little confused by how important rank of title is in Samoan society. In American culture, there's really upper-class, middle-class and lower-class that I can think of, but those titles don't even mean that much, as far as I'm concerned.

Chapter 5: The Girl and her Age Group

Summary
This chapter explored the formation of different age gangs and neighborhood gangs. Many complications can arise due to age, personality and location; for example, a girl named Luna lived far from her siblings, but was ten and too young for her age to play with the more grown-up girls her age, so she lived a largely solitary life.

Discussion
Reading this chapter, I started to rethink my perceptions of some of the previous chapters. I had believed that Samoan children were diligent and hard-working, but it's revealed in this chapter that young girls and boys can indeed be very mischievous. It was interesting how groups formed based primarily on proximity and age.

Chapter 6: The Girl in the Community

Summary
This chapter details the duties and roles Samoan women take in the community. Most important is within a few years after puberty, girls and boys are grouped into the Aualuma and Aumaga, respectively, which are the groups in which they may begin taking on formal titles and transition into higher status. Boys, or rather young men, in the Aumaga learn the ways of the chiefs and talking chiefs so that they can eventually take on those roles. They are also tasked with the hospitality of visiting villages. The Aualuma is not quite as organized, and given less work; they main function is to be the ceremonial helpers for the meetings of the wives of matais, and village hostesses in inter-village life. But women who are called upon or are wives of chiefs are expected to do much more work and given more responsibilities.

Discussion
I found it interesting and somewhat surprisingly that women receive less punishment for questionable behavior like adultery and that the Aualuma and other females are not convened when some evil befalls the village. I also thought it somewhat odd that women in the Aualuma are not expected to do as much work.

Chapter 7: Formal Sex Relations

Summary
This chapter explains the role of relationships between men and women in society. From a young age, both genders practice avoidance of each other until puberty, when they began to form relationships and sneak away at night. Marriage is regarded as a social and economic arrangement, and varies depending on rank. Divorce is as simple as returning home to one's family.

Discussion
I found it interesting that marriages were so likely to not be monogamous, and that it was considered prestigious if a village could successfully kidnap the taupo of another village. This is a huge departure from American culture and standards, so this was a bit of a shock.

Chapter 8: The Role of the Dance

Summary
This chapter discusses the importance of dance in society. It is basically the ubiquitous activity in culture, in which all ages and genders participate. And unlike in other everyday events, children are treated as the focus of the event. Individuality is encouraged, and the dances serve to socialize young children and allow participation despite handicaps.

Discussion
In this situation, it seems as if many of the roles of Samoan culture are reversed. I like that this is where children are free to express themselves to set themselves apart. I also liked Mead's connection between the discrimination of poor dancers to our educational system, where those that are not as proficient tend to fall behind due to lack of praise and opportunity.

Chapter 9: The Attitude of the Personality

Summary
This chapter discusses the role of a person's personality in society. Excessive personality traits are treated with some superstition, it is acceptable to answer questions ambiguously, and relative comparisons of judgement rarely occur. Good and bad behavior is considered an inherent personality trait, and judgments of any person's personality are age-specific.

Discussion
I found it particularly interesting that personality traits are not generally compared; the Samoans did not say who was the best or worst at something, but merely that certain people are good at it. I also found it interesting that people do not have privacy over their possessions; their things could easily be given away when they're not looking.

Chapter 10: The Experience and Individuality of the Average Girl

Summary
This chapter followed the specific group of girls Mead was studying, explaining their personal experiences and roles in society. The author noted that these girls tended to know more about the biology of life and death and very little about the common courtesy and organization of the society. In addition, there seems to be no desire to protect children from shocking or traumatizing experiences or to shelter them from more "mature" matters.

Discussion
This chapter gave a lot of specific information about a girl's life in Samoa. In general, though, the chapter was very long, drawn out, and difficult to get through. I did find it interesting that in one place in the chapter, Mead noted that the prettier children in the group of girls she was studying tended to have more character and a more charged attitude towards their parents; this seems to parallel American girls' personalities, too.

Chapter 11: The Girl in Conflict

Summary
This chapter explores possible conflicts a girl in Samoa may encounter and causes for these conflicts. Mead discusses some of the "deviants" of the group of girls in her study, who deviated from traditional conduct and required a different or improved environment. Such conflicts arose from things like living in the pastor's house or living on the outskirts of town.

Discussion
The fact that the author focused largely on religion and how it produced deviants, then said that religion was taken fairly lightly and did not produce conflicts was somewhat confusing. I did find it interesting that conflicts with parents are largely avoided due to the threat of moving to a new household, and conflicts between those of the same age were solved by one of them moving out of the household. This "solution" of sorts is not something many American families would even consider.

Chapter 12: Maturity and Old Age

Summary
This chapter details the basic lives of men and women after the age of twenty or so and how maturity changes  their role in society as they age. The males are chiefly concerning with obtaining titles throughout their lives; however, the author states that a woman's greatest accomplishment is her first born child. It is the woman's responsibility to teach the younger people of the household common activities, and for the elderly, there is no longer any regard for taboos.

Discussion
I found it interesting that at an old age, people are allowed to disregard the taboos they have been following since they were children. In addition, I found it amusing that the author noted that there is no conflict between a daughter-in-law and a mother-in-law like in our culture, but it is just a relationship of respect for authority.

Chapter 13: Our Educational Problems in the Light of Samoan Contrasts

Summary
This chapter summarizes all of the important topics in previous chapters and compares Samoan culture with the American/English culture. Mead offers suggestions based on these comparisons to improve our way of life, including changing the attitude of keeping children away from birth and death and having larger household conglomerates.

Discussion
While Mead made some interesting suggestions that would improve the educational system here, most people would struggle to understand or agree with them. Generally, people like their way of life and the traditions that come with it. That makes it difficult to make radical changes, such as suddenly letting children be privy to every bit of knowledge available. Making small adjustments at a time would be a more viable course of action.

Chapter 14: Education for Choice

Summary
This chapter discusses the problems with our educational system and offers some solutions with insight from Samoan culture in mind. Mead stresses that adolescence is not necessarily a time of stress and strain, but that the sudden changes and cultural factors of American society cause stress. The presence of conflicting standards between one's family against friends and others is a great source of stress.

Discussion
I found it interesting that Mead stated that American children have parental disapproval expressed through control of money, which ends up presenting a problem once the adolescent is old enough to get a job. It's very true that money seems to be a large factor in parental control, and that seems like it could lead to many problems. In addition, I agree that the problem of emphasizing the ability to choose your beliefs, but then insisting that a child follow a particular belief, such as the parents', is a large problem of conflict. I liked the Mead's solution regarding educating children about every option that they will be confronted with, so that they will have less stress of trying to decide between obeying their family's beliefs or their generation's beliefs, but instead can easily choose for themselves. This makes sense, but I wonder if children will even understand these options and the problems that could arise from them. Those problems tend to make sense when they are encountered at the appropriate age.

Appendix III: Samoan Civilization as it is Today

Summary
This chapter discusses ways Samoan civilization has been influenced by European ideas. This includes provision of new tools and materials, a naval base that offers a system of government to each village, Christian influences, and the establishment of schools. Despite these changes, the culture has remained very flexible, taking only those parts of our culture that have made Samoan life more comfortable and ignoring those parts that would hurt the culture.

Discussion
I found it interesting that, while many cultures are influenced negatively by other cultures, Samoan culture reacted positively. The cultural adaptations only made life easier, removing things such as violent punishment but substituting no other form of punishment into its place. This made for a very flexible culture, where life stages such as adolescence produce no extra stress. I thought it was interesting that Samoans were able to recognize what could damage the culture and thus reject it.