Bathing Babies in Three Cultures

Directed by Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead

This short ethnographic film presents a comparative study of infant bathing practices in three cultural settings: Bali, Iatmul communities along the Sepik River in New Guinea, and the United States. Through observational sequences, the film documents differing methods of mother–child interaction, caregiving routines, and degrees of maternal protection, situating everyday domestic practices within broader patterns of cultural socialization.