Final answer:
Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict were pioneering anthropologists whose works had certain weaknesses, such as Mead's underestimation of Samoan social norms and her assumptions on gender behaviors, and Benedict's potentially stereotypical views of cultures. Despite these, their extensive contributions to anthropology are foundational and have spurred further scholarly discussion.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question regarding the weaknesses of cultural anthropologists Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict can be approached by looking at some of the criticisms and challenges they faced in their work. Mead's most famous work is Coming of Age in Samoa, where she highlighted the relaxed and open attitude towards sexuality in Samoan culture, contrasting it with that of the United States. However, her work has been scrutinized for possibly underestimating the complexity of Samoan social norms and overlooking contradictions within the society itself.
Another weakness attributed to Mead was her initial assumption that gendered behaviors were primarily biologically determined, an assumption she later revised through her fieldwork, as documented in Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. Similarly, her mentor Ruth Benedict's studies on cultural personality sometimes faced criticism for promoting stereotypical views of cultures, though Benedict's methodologies and insights continue to be foundational in psychological anthropology.
It's essential to note that despite their weaknesses, the contributions of Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict to the field of anthropology, notably in examining how cultures interpret and enact gender roles, remain significant. The critiques of their work have furthered debate and progress within the field.