ルース・ベネディクト
Mead also had an exceptionally close relationship with Ruth Benedict, one of her instructors. In her memoir about her parents, "With a Daughter's Eye", Mary Catherine Bateson implies that the relationship between Benedict and Mead was partly sexual. Mead never openly identified herself as lesbian or bisexual. In her writings, she proposed that it is to be expected that an individual's sexual orientation may evolve throughout life.