Ashley Montagu: A Brief Synopsis
of his Contributions
to
(Part I of II)
by Mizin P. Kawasaki, MD
Ashley Montagu was an
anthropologist, scientist, and humanist.
He passed away at the age of 94 in late 1999. This essay was written in 1998 and
revised in 2006.
The birthright of
healthy human development
Ashley Montagu deserves widespread recognition
for being a most consistent, outspoken, and unswerving advocate for
children. For over sixty years, Dr.
Montagu has written tirelessly, educating the general public about human
development so that parents can encourage their children’s healthy growth and
development.
All the theories and ideas that Dr. Montagu has
presented to readers in his many books are based on clear thinking and profound
insight. In the recent past, abundant
scientific research supports convincingly Dr. Montagu’s many theories
concerning human needs and the course of children's development.
The primary concept that Dr. Montagu has
emphasized throughout his works is that all children deserve the birthright of
healthy human development. Regardless of
ethnic, financial, or social standing, all children should be able to realize
their potential as human beings.
Two types of heredity
Dr. Montagu explains that human beings are born
with two types of heredity: genetic
heredity and social heredity. Human
beings grow and develop as a result of the interaction of these two types of
heredity.
Genes manifest their characteristics as a result
of their interaction with the environment, the social heredity. Genes cannot exist independent of an
environment because nature and nurture are completely interdependent. Dr. Montagu states this unequivocally in his
book Human Heredity, which was
published more than 36 years ago.
Now, although some scientists still debate the
relationship between nature and nurture, the evidence points overwhelmingly in
the direction of a mutually interdependent existence. This explanation of heredity clarifies the
importance of optimizing the nurturing environment in which human genes are
modifiably expressed.
As different as all human beings will always be,
one commonality that all parents have is that they can optimize the nurturing
environment in which their children develop.
The importance of prenatal
influences
When we think of nurturing environments, we tend
to overlook the environment in which pregnancy occurs. Over 35 years ago, Dr. Montagu published a
prescient book entitled Prenatal
Influences. He presents numerous
theories about the impact of the gestational environment (that is, the mother's
emotional and physical health) on the growth and development of the human
fetus.
Scientific research has confirmed the importance
of the mother's health during pregnancy.
Some examples of altered maternal well-being that may lead to
undesirable effects upon the fetus
include the following: diabetes
mellitus may cause numerous physical consequences for the developing fetus (increased
body size, immaturity despite large size, potential hypoglycemia, cardiac
anomalies, and other anomalies); maternal deficiency in folate may lead to
neural tube defects in the fetus; maternal use of alcohol may lead to fetal
alcohol syndrome; and maternal smoking
of cigarettes causes smaller gestational size for age and is associated with
preterm birth.
We have a great deal more to learn about how
maternal emotional states affect developing fetuses during pregnancy. What is evident is that women can improve the
gestational environment of their fetuses, thus assuring fetuses a healthier
womb in which to grow and develop.
Pregnancy
Dr. Montagu has explained pregnancy in a unique
and enlightening manner. Most
individuals are familiar with the nine-month pregnancy, which Dr. Montagu
designates as uterogestation. The general understanding of this period of
time is that the fetus grows and develops within its mother’s uterus so that it
will be able to survive outside the womb as a newborn.
Using his broad knowledge of anatomy,
physiology, and anthropology, Dr. Montagu states that the human newborn emerges
“half-done.” The newborn is immature at term, usually 266 1/2 days from
conception, because his head is quite large.
The average newborn's brain volume is large; it
is approximately 330 cubic centimeters (cc) (Montagu, 1986, 55). If the newborn were to continue to stay in utero for a more prolonged period of
time, its rapidly growing brain would most certainly result in cephalopelvic
disproportion (CPD). In other words, the
baby’s head would be too large to pass through the birth canal, and the lives
of both the newborn and his mother would be endangered.
The importance of labor
The question arises, then, as to when the human
newborn should ideally be born. The
answer is after eighteen months of gestation, if not longer. The “half-done” newborn actually needs at
least another nine to ten months of “womb” environment outside of the womb to
mature. This is a period of time Dr.
Montagu designates as being the exterogestation. It is also around this age that the infant
begins to crawl around under its own steam (Montagu 1989, 203).
Prior to exterogestation, mothers experience the
pain of labor and delivery. In his book Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin,
Dr. Montagu clarifies the significance of the labor mothers experience during
childbirth. During labor, the uterine
muscular contractions literally massage the skin of the fetus and stimulate the
nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, genitourinary,
immunological, and endocrine systems
These are all the vital systems that the newborn
will require to sustain life outside the womb.
The tactile stimulation the baby receives during labor appears to be
crucial for immediate neonatal functioning.
Tactile stimulation
It is not well known that the skin is the
external nervous system. It arises from
the same embryonic tissue, the ectoderm, as do the central and peripheral
nervous systems. Dr. Montagu notes that
the prolonged labor of human beings, as compared to shorter labor of other
mammals, ensures the adequate tactile stimulation of the fetus prior to
birth.
Other mammals lick their newborns soon after
birth in order to ensure activation of vital organ systems. In contrast, this sort of stimulation does
not occur in human beings. Since human
beings have no instincts (see The Nature
of Human Aggression by Ashley Montagu for a detailed discussion of this
subject), the normal physiological occurrence of labor acts to ensure adequate
stimulation for the human newborn as it traverses the birth canal. Comprehending the importance of labor from
this perspective may enable mothers to endure better the hardships of labor and
birth.
Criticism of modern
obstetric practices
In a bold and revolutionary essay published in The Humanization of Man in 1962, Dr.
Montagu criticizes the obstetrical system and advocates total reform. Dr. Montagu notes that obstetricians of his
day opt to make their own convenience a priority over the health and well-being
of healthy pregnant women and their newborns.
He notes that it is easier for doctors to meet
their patients at hospitals where a staff is prepared to assist them. Obstetricians encourage their healthy
pregnant patients to have their healthy newborns in germ-ridden
institutions. There is, however, no
medical basis for such a massive move toward hospitalization of pregnant
women.
A better birth for women
and newborns
Dr. Montagu courageously proposes a plan that
would allow pregnant women to give birth to their newborns in the familiar
environment of their own homes and in the presence of loved ones. This would make the birth of the newborn a
joyful family event, not a medical illness.
In order to provide midwives with back-up assistance,
Dr. Montagu proposes that every community would maintain a log of pregnant
women and their due dates. At the
expected time of birth, an ambulance that is fully equipped for neonatal and obstetrical
medical emergencies would be available outside the home where the birth is
expected.
A physician could also be on-call in the event
of an emergency. Even today, the cost of
such a system would be negligible compared to the health care costs we incur by
hospitalizing almost all pregnant women and their newborns.
Advocacy of midwives
Numerous studies reveal that the use of midwives
is associated with decreased medical and surgical intervention, less use of
anesthesia, fewer episiotomies, and lower cost, among other benefits. In recent decades, women have become better
educated about alternative birthing methods.
In response, the medical community has begun to
provide natural birthing centers. There
is still a long way to go, however, toward reversing the technological trends
of the past 75 years. Moreover, little
thought is being expended on making Dr. Montagu’s humanistic vision of home birthing
the norm in society once more.
Dehumanizing hospital births
It is important to note that Dr. Montagu’s
primary objection to the hospitalization of healthy pregnant women and their
newborns is that it is a dehumanizing experience. In the hospital, a pregnant woman is often
left alone while the nurses and doctors tend to other patients or matters. In the home, on the other hand, family
members can support and comfort her.
Naturally, the scenario is more complicated when
there are other children because they worry about their absent mother. The home is the best birthing center because
there will be no interference with the mother-infant bonding.
In fact, the newborn is welcomed right into the bosom
of the family, which is a nest of warm and loving human beings. A newborn can breastfeed without the meddling
of a nursing staff that often, however unintentionally, interferes with the
bonding between mother and infant by delaying immediate breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding benefits
to mothers
As Dr. Montagu points out, the benefits of
breastfeeding work on both the mother and the infant. Breastfeeding immediately after birth
produces fundamental physiological benefits for the mother by helping to contract
the uterus back to its normal size, arresting hemorrhaging from the torn
uterine blood vessels, and completing labor with the detachment and ejection of
the placenta.
Mother-infant bonding
Breastfeeding also enables the mother to
establish a loving relationship with the newborn; the earlier, the better. As Dr. Montagu notes, it is not the
breastfeeding alone that is important but the whole relatedness which the
mother feels toward her newborn.
This related then enables the mother to nurture the
optimal growth and development of her newborn.
In the warm environment of a loving family, the mother can best develop
this relatedness to her baby and experience the humanizing wonders of giving
birth.
Maturation in the
newborn period
Dr. Montagu points out that the human newborn
faces a long period of gradual maturation.
Not only does the newborn have to learn about its new environment, but
his body has to undergo physiological maturation of its organ systems. This period of time is called the exterogestation.
The exterogestation enables the newborn to
adjust and mature so that it can be assured of postnatal existence. The importance of acknowledging the
exterogestation is to comprehend the extreme immaturity of the human newborn
and to recognize its needs. This period
of exterogestation lasts from the postnatal period until an infant can crawl or
move about on its own, which occurs at about nine to ten months of age.
Tremendous brain growth
during infancy
By the end of the first year of life, brain
growth has more than doubled to about 850 cc, or 60% of its adult size (Montagu,
1986, 55). Understanding this aspect of
human development is quite important since most individuals perceive the human
newborn as a mature entity.
The incredibly immature
newborn
This is believed despite the fact that the human
newborn is completely at the mercy of his environment. Simple observation of a newborn clarifies his
helpless nature. He needs warmth and
nourishment; cannot move purposely; cannot speak and communicate his needs; cannot
control his excretory and eliminatory functions; and so forth.
Despite these obvious signs of dependency, the
physiological immaturity of the newborn is hardly respected. Meanwhile, the newborn’s body is challenged
to do the following: breathe on its own;
have a functioning circulatory system to provide oxygen and nutrients to its
entire body; adjust its gastrointestinal system to the new function of
ingestion, digestion, and elimination; use its nervous system to assess not
only its own physiological status but to adjust to its new environment.
These are just a few of the changes that the
newborn must undergo in order to live outside the womb in the immediate
postnatal period. Dr. Montagu explains
the physiological and anatomical changes that the newborn experiences
succinctly in his book Touching.
If we all gained deeper insight into the great
physiological and environmental demands made upon the newborn, then perhaps we
would eradicate the mistaken view of the newborn as being fully prepared to
survive outside the womb. What is clear
is that the newborn undergoes a period of transformation that does not occur
instantly but gradually.
A mother’s care
This period of exterogestation requires that a
human newborn be in the constant care of a loving and nurturing human being who
can learn to respond appropriately and speedily to his many needs. Who is the most ideal person to fulfill this
role? It is the biological mother, as
long as she loves and cares deeply for her newborn.
The challenge is to open our minds to understand
the role of mothers is so crucial to the healthy development of children. During pregnancy, women undergo physiological
changes that will enable them to provide the primary means to care for their
newborns, which is breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding must be
learned
Breastfeeding is not instinctive. As with all else in human life, women must
learn how to breastfeed their children. Ideally,
this would occur by observing other breastfeeding mothers prior to giving birth
themselves and making use of the large library of breastfeeding books and other
educational resources that is now available.
By educating themselves, women can prepare
themselves for the task of breastfeeding, which is a natural nurturing
capability that is often misunderstood. Breastfeeding
is irreplaceable because the benefits are not simply nutritional but wholly
nurturing. The breasts are a source of
warmth, comfort, nourishment, and love, as well as the assured presence of an
available mother.
An emphasis on breast
milk
Given the technological culture in which we
live, it is not surprising that there are many researchers who are attempting
to discover and quantify the chemical basis of human milk. The positive aspect of all this research is
that there is a convincing and rapidly growing body of evidence that confirms
the immunological and nutritional benefits of breastfeeding.
The research is primarily concerned only with
the physiological and biochemical functions of human milk. Discussions of breastfeeding tend to
emphasize mainly the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding, and they often overlook
the enormous psychological and physiological advantages breastfeeding secures
for both mother and infant.
The human element behind
breastfeeding
The mechanical aspect of breastfeeding sometimes
overshadows the art of nursing and may undermine the human element behind breastfeeding: the mother-infant relationship. The presence of a loving, caring, and nursing
mother in the environment of her infant provides the ideal external womb for
the fulfillment of the child's physical potentialities as well as its
behavioral potentialities.
Dr. Montagu has written often of the humanizing
role mothers have on their children. With
respect to breastfeeding, nursing mothers are not merely repositories of milk
but the providers of the warmth, love, responsiveness, and touching that enable
infants to learn to love as they are loved.
Intangible benefits of
breastfeeding
These aspects of breastfeeding cannot be
measured quantitatively by researchers.
Nevertheless, they are as vital to the nurturing of infants as is the
milk.
The art of breastfeeding, as mothers around the
world will attest, lies in the willingness of mothers to give to their children
from the heart and of themselves literally, which is a feat that technology can
never replicate.
What makes us human is the relationship of
mutually beneficial love that exists between individuals, and nothing exemplifies
this better than a loving, breastfeeding mother-infant dyad. This is a subject that Dr. Montagu has
discussed so eloquently in many books.
A mother forges love
In 1971, Dr. Montagu’s book The Elephant Man received its first printing, and accomplished its
purpose of elucidating the power of a loving relationship between a mother and
her son.
In the late 19th century, a British surgeon named
Sir Frederick Treves discovered a grotesquely deformed man named Joseph
Merrick. The latter was afflicted with a
genetic disorder. (In light of
information available at the time, Dr. Montagu assessed the diagnosis to be
neurofibromatosis.) *
Huge tumors grew over various parts of Joseph
Merrick’s body, including his head and arms.
He was a terrifying sight. When
Dr. Treves found this young man, he was an attraction at a freak show in
Dr. Treves, with the assistance of his
hospital's chairman and contributions from readers of the
As time passed, it became clear that Joseph
Merrick was a sensitive, literate, and well-spoken young man who appreciated
and respected his benefactors. He was
able to live the last few years of his life in the hospital under the auspices
of caring individuals.
According to his own account, Dr. Treves
believed that Joseph had been unloved and abandoned early in life. Dr. Treves, however, was uncertain as to why
Joseph Merrick, despite experiencing humiliating and horrendous episodes
throughout his short life because of his awful and repulsive appearance, never
expressed hatred for his tormentors. Joseph
was a gentle, loving person who appreciated beauty, kindness, and
friendship.
Dr. Montagu writes that Dr. Treves was mistaken
about Joseph’s early childhood and theorized instead that Joseph must have had
a truly loving mother. She must have
taught her son how to love and gave him the strength to endure the terrible
travails of his life.
Dr. Montagu’s views of Joseph’s upbringing were
confirmed by Michael Howell and Peter Ford's book The True History of the Elephant Man, which was published in 1980. Apparently, Joseph was born a “perfect
baby.” He was loved and cared for by his
mother until her death, a few months short of his eleventh birthday.
There was some evidence of his genetic disorder
during his early childhood years, and it became progressively more pronounced
as he matured. After his mother's death,
Joseph’s father married a widow who did not take kindly to her stepson.
Joseph was soon forced to work, but his physical
deformities impaired his ability to perform well at work. From thence onward, life became a hardship for
Joseph Merrick. Despite all his
horrendous experiences, nevertheless, he maintained a love of life and respect
for humanity. Such is the power of a
mother's love on her offspring.
Dr. Montagu writes:
The basic plan of the mother-infant
relationship, from conception to birth, and onward, is that the loving behavior
of the mother and child for one another confers survival and growth benefits
upon each other. In this beautiful
mother-and-child interconnectedness and interaction the basic pattern is laid
out for humanity to follow toward the achievement of healthy growth and
development, that is, to live as if to live and love were one. (Montagu 1996,
86)
In his many books, Dr. Montagu emphasizes the
supreme importance of a mother's love, and he describes the humanizing effect
of such love. In the case of Joseph
Merrick, it is clear that his mother's love enabled him to express the most
noble of human attributes despite the adversity he faced in life.
The importance of a
mother’s role
Dr. Montagu has written extensively about the
profound significance of a mother’s role in children's lives and has been a stalwart
advocate for women. The first edition of
his seminal book The Natural Superiority
of Women was published in 1952, and a fifth and revised edition came out in
1992.
In this book, Dr. Montagu produces a forceful
argument for women to realize their potential as humanizers of all human
beings. He has written what most mothers
have felt from the heart: “The genius of
woman is the genius of humanity, the
ability to love others more than one loves oneself, and love, humanity, is the
supreme form of intelligence (Montagu 1992, 199).
The essence of humanity
It is the selfless dedication to child-rearing,
the nurturing of children, that is the essence of our humanity and the clearest
expression of human intelligence. Women
who act upon this truth (and men who support these women) enable children to
realize their potential as human beings and facilitate the development of a
nurturing and humane world.
What begins in the home will naturally be transmitted
to society. Positive and loving life to
life interaction begins in the home between mother and child. This nurturing elicits the highest good and
love in human beings.
It is this humane way of
life that Dr. Montagu praises so highly.
He states:
Humankind must learn to understand that all
other forms of intelligence must be secondary to the developed humane,
compassionate intelligence, for any form of intelligence that is not primarily
implanted into a matrix of humane feeling and understanding is the most
dangerous thing in the world...It is (compassionate) intelligence that the
world will always stand in need of. It
is that kind of intelligence with which women are so abundantly endowed. It is that kind of intelligence that it is their
destiny to teach the world. (Montagu 1992, 199).
Compassionate
intelligence
Dr. Montagu recognizes the profound ability of
women to enable children to fulfill their potential as human beings. Through human interaction, as idealized by
the loving relationship between mother and child, compassionate intelligence is
nurtured. It is truly a wonder of human
intelligence that mothers can be so intuitively aware of children’s needs.
To love and care for others is the ultimate sign
of one’s humanity, and women have the capability to teach all others how to be
human. A humane education, instilled in
both boys and girls, will enable children to develop compassionate
intelligence, the intelligence that is central to the good mental health of
human beings.
Compassionate intelligence is the foundation of parenting
that encourages children’s development into empathetic, altruistic, loving, and
cooperative adults. We also need to
develop intelligence by acquiring knowledge, but the limitations of gathering knowledge
without developing wisdom is manifest in the history of humankind.
Supreme womanly
intelligence
To deter the trend that encourages greater
inhumanity in our world, women need to make use of the supreme intelligence
with which we are endowed. The primary
emphasis of such intelligence is to rear young children so that they can
fulfill their birthright to healthy human development.
Proper awareness of the essential nature of a
mother’s presence in her children’s lives must be proclaimed to refute the
deeply mistaken notion that a mother’s care is no different from that offered
by any other caregiver.
Faulty modern education
Mothers are not dispensable by any means, and
Dr. Montagu has been able to identify a major cause of the ignorance that surrounds
the current understanding of the mother-child relationship. The modern educational system fails to teach women
and men the importance of human nurturing and human development.
Dr. Montagu faults the male-dominated educational
institutions for failing to teach women and men the importance of mothering and
nurturing. Modern education willfully
overlooks the important occupation of motherhood.
In an essay published in The Humanization of Man (1962, pp. 189-190), Dr. Montagu writes of
the confusion and frustration that he observed among college-educated
women. The relevance of his observations
lies in the persistence of conflicts that educated women face even today, as we
approach the end of the twentieth century.
Dr. Montagu writes of women who stay at home
with their children, only to feel that their B.A. degrees are wasted, and women
who opt to return to work, only to feel frustrated for not being excellent
homemakers.
Unprepared for
motherhood
Women are taught that they can do anything with
their talents and intelligence; should seek opportunities to use their given
and acquired talents; and should become capable workers in their respective
fields. Once women become mothers, however,
they find themselves ill-prepared to meet the demands of motherhood.
Women’s education does not prepare them for the
challenge of being excellent mothers.
Instead, the demands of motherhood and work outside the home create
inner turmoil. Women’s ability and
desire to nurture their offspring may conflict with the pursuit of goals that they
have been educated to value, namely success in work and leisure.
With the ever-increasing pace of life and the
continuing advances in technology and communication, the inconspicuous benefits
of stay-at-home mothering to humanity seem to keep diminishing in value.
Women are educated as if
they are men
Dr. Montagu notes that most coeducational and
many women’s colleges use curricula that were originally created for the
education of men. As women are educated
to be like men, there is an underlying assumption that women who do not act
like men are, in effect, not realizing their talents.
As a result, the worthy work of mothering is
ignored. While women have the potential
to accomplish far more than men, simply because they can bear and nurture
children, many women pursue a far less challenging course in life: they simply act like men.
As Dr. Montagu has observed, confusion about women’s role in the home as mothers wreaks havoc upon family life. The inevitable consequence is that both parents and children experience dissatisfaction with life.
* Subsequent research indicates that Joseph Merrick might have had Proteus Syndrome.
Continue to Ashley Montagu—Part
II.
Works Cited
Montagu, Ashley. 1966. On being human.
———.1970. A scientist looks at LOVE. Phi Delta Kappan, 51(9): 466-
467.
———. 1971. What is a child? National Elementary Principal 51 (1):8-16.
———.
University
Business
54(4):35-38.
———. 1976. The
nature of human aggression.
University Press.
———. 1979. Breastfeeding and its relation to
morphological, behavioral,
and psychocultural
development. Breastfeeding and food policy
in
a hungry world.
———. 1986. Touching:
The human significance of the skin.
Harper & Row.
———. 1992. The
natural superiority of women.
Books.
———. 1989. Growing
young.
———. 1996. The
elephant man. 3rd ed.
