Coming of Age in SomoaMargaret Mead's "Coming of Age in Samoa", which was in fact her doctoral thesis, was written in six months starting in 1925. Thanks to him, People was a look at a society unaffected by the problems of 20th century industrial America. She illustrated the image of a society where love was available on demand and crime was suppressed by the exchange of a few mats. This book helps to realize the important role played by the social environment. Probably one of Mead's biggest challenges was the fact that his fieldwork was conducted entirely in the Samoan language. In Samoa, few, if any, native people spoke English. To get information, Mead spent his time talking to about 25 Samoan women. However, she devoted much of her attention to two young Samoan women, Fa'apua'aFa'amu and Fofoa. It is said that the life of a Samoan woman is very much like any other. At the time of her visit to Samoa, Mead, a graduate student, was only 23 years old. She was barely older than the girls she interviewed and affectionately called her “merry companions.” The insight received from reading “Coming of Age in Samoa” is that it is an almost stress-free place to live. Children move through adolescence without experiencing many of the pressures placed on adolescents in an industrial America: ...adolescence represented no period of crisis or stress, but rather was the orderly development of a set of interests and activities that were slowly maturing (95). At Mead, families are large, taboos and restrictions are few and disagreements are resolved by the distribution of mats. The stress faced by American teenagers is unknown to their Samoan counterparts. Mead considers premarital sex to be the “quintessential pastime” of Samoan youth. She writes that Samoa is a virtual paradise of free love, because young people from 14 years old until they get married have nothing on their minds except sex. Of Samoan girls, Mead says: She keeps virtuosity away from her just as she keeps away from her any other kind of responsibility with the invariable comment "Laitit a'u" ("I'm only young"). All his interest is in clandestine sexual adventures (33). She explains that growing up can be free, easy and simple. Romantic love in Samoa is not tied to ideas of monogamy, exclusivity, jealousy and fidelity as it is in America. Obviously, because of the lack of priva...... middle of paper ......ons. By the time a girl reaches the age of eight or nine, she has learned not to approach a group of older boys. However, when it comes to younger boys, they are taught to antagonize them. Boys are considered “older” after being circumcised. When a girl is looking for her first lover, she turns to an older man, most often a widower or divorced. There are two types of sexual relationships other than marriage that are recognized by Samoans. These include romantic relationships between young single people, but also adultery. Although virginity is not expected in girls, Mead says it adds to their attractiveness. Essentially, having sex with a virgin is much more of an achievement for a man than sex with a girl who isn't. In Samoa, marriage is seen as a social and economic arrangement in which the relative wealth, rank and skills of the husband and wife must be taken into account. In conclusion, Margaret Mead's thesis on Samoa is still interesting after 75 years. Samoan customs, especially those regarding sex, are very interesting to people of other cultures. This.