Final answer:
Margaret Mead's research in New Guinea demonstrated that culture has a significant impact on gender roles, highlighting their variability and cultural construction rather than biological determinism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The point of Margaret Mead's research on three tribes in New Guinea was that culture has a significant impact on gender roles. In her groundbreaking work Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies, Mead found that the Arapesh, Mundugumor, and other tribes each had unique gender roles that were not strictly determined by biological differences. Her findings challenged the notion that gender roles are biologically determined, demonstrating instead the cultural variability and flexibility in gender expressions and norms.
Mead's research indicated that characteristics of gender could vary greatly between different societies. For instance, in some cultures, women and men were considered temperamentally similar, whereas in others, distinct gender roles were prescribed. This variability underscored the importance of culture in shaping gender identities and expectations. Mead's work thus supports the understanding that gender is a cultural construct rather than a static or universal concept.