Are Chinese Mothers Superior?
Last week saw the rise of a new contender for most reviled woman in America. A Chinese-American Yale professor, author, and mom proved once again that Americans have little patience with self-confident, achievement-oriented mothers, especially those that express themselves with authenticity, humor, and conviction.
Amy Chua proved also that multiculturalism and diversity were never intended to help us set the bar higher, but only to validate underachievers.
For decades now, we’ve stood by in denial as affirmative action programs have dumbed down our university/college system and work environments. We’ve been vaguely aware that the drive to include more blacks and Hispanics has been at the sacrifice of better-qualified Asians (see “Do colleges redline Asian-Americans?”).
Most of us have worked alongside, gone to school with, or lived next door to Asians. We know their grades, SAT scores, and need to succeed are typically higher. There truly is something about Asians — as an adoptive mother of a Taiwanese son, I see it every day.
Consider the spine-tingling 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony and the incredible self-discipline required of each individual to produce such unity and precision. This is incomprehensible to Americans, whose religious devotion to individualism — and the modern Have It Your Way mentality — is producing signs of strain on our social fabric, transforming our universities into places where many undisciplined girls and boys party hearty on their parents’ dime.
These were not my first reflections on reading Chua’s now-infamous piece — at least the piece presented/misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal. Book sales aside, the Journal certainly did the author no favors when they wove together segments from her memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother to present a skewed and provocative essay with Chua’s byline and the Journal’s heavy-handed title: “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior.”
Unlike many of those in the nearly 7000 comments to date, I was not threatened or deeply disturbed by Chua’s well-written and humorous narrative. First of all, much of it rang true. As a San Francisco Montessori teacher, my class was 50% Asian. And for seven years our family was neighbors with a wonderful Chinese family in Marin. So I’ve seen strict and bossy up close and personal. I’ve seen the drills, the Kumon classes, the piano practice, the push for perfection.
It might not have been my style of parenting, but I felt comfortable living alongside it. In fact, I felt like my kids would probably be a little better off if a little of that Chinese mother stuff would rub off on me.
I never felt the need to judge or condemn my dear friend (and her mother-in-law) because their tone of voice was harsher than mine. Isn’t that what multiculturalism and diversity are all about?
In the immediate aftermath of the Journal‘s piece — as every mother with a keyboard registered her alarm — my first thought was that this was yet another media-created MommyWar. After all, as a blogger who happens to be a mom, I’ve seen several of those in the past six years.
But when the backlash and tone grew worse, beyond any MommyWar to date — to vicious personal attacks, mockery, and even death threats — I knew that there was more afoot.
You see, someone can write a book or make a movie about a girl named Precious and we don’t attack the indigent, neglectful, and monstrously selfish mother because we accept she just can’t do any better. Since she makes a normal mother look like Mother Teresa, she actually is useful. She poses no threat.
But a mother determined to produce exceptional children with a skill level developed only with discipline — why, how dare she share how she encourages her children to meet their potential? What an outrage that she chose a path different than we American moms!
Methinks Ms Curtis wants to imitate Amy Chua’s strategy for selling books, at least judging by the tone of this piece.
I think they’re both nuts. Not allowing your children to fail is liable to destroy them. Making them think the worst thing they can be is imperfect is liable to make them destroy themselves.
When I recollect my mother’s support and constant “just do your best” attitude, I remember that that had motivated me all the more than when she criticized me. Children are not robots, but flesh and blood and very succeptible to an early damaged self-esteem. Toronto now has the largest Chinese community in North America, and I do not see that their children are any more superior to the minority non-Asian kids here.
I wish that my parents were that hard on me. I’ve wasted so much time on trivialities and not spent nearly enough time working on things that really matter because I had no difference. Self esteem is a *new* concept and not one that is criticized enough. I’m a fat lazy American who loves myself so much that I don’t work hard enough to really succeed because, “just do your best” is in my bones now. I wish that I could take it out and replace it with, “your best yesterday isn’t good enough today. Work harder”.
yeah jason it’s your parents fault you are a looser…has to be…can’t possibly be YOUR fault… this is the manta of all losers
Blaming your parents shows a lack of filial piety on your part. Confucius no approve.
Okay let me get this straught.
Exactly how is you blaming backlash on her Asianness constructive?
More importantly isn’t individualism how capitalism in general works?
Exactly what is the virtue in turning your kid (or anyone for that matter) into a cog with no face? Just a pair of hands and preprogrammed set of instructions? Exactly what is so bright about being a piece of a machine?
Is competition good? Of course it is. It presses deep a drive to outdo others and become greater than those who do not have that drive…but there is a limit. There is a point where you sit down and rest.
If you take your kid’s childhood away with classes, study, more classes, more study it seems like you just got your competative worker at the price of their self.
They will always be looking for those who may outdo them and thus no rest.
Thank you, Ms Curtis for your defense of Ms Chua. I read the WSJ piece and instead of being insulted, I was motivated to do a better job of challenging my children.
“Consider the spine-tingling 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, and the incredible self-discipline required of each individual to produce such unity and precision.”
Yes, and it’s called COMMUNISM. Everybody did the same thing and at the same time. So much for individuality. That’s what gave me the creeps about the Chinese Olympics. There were thousands of Chinese people all doing what their government told them to do and at the same time. If that’s what we’re aiming for, then I’ll take what we have now. Is it perfect? Not at all. But individuality is way more important than having a bunch of robots following whatever a school, a state, or a government tells them to do. That’s NOT what we’re all about.
All the Asian exceptionalists (sp?) really ought to visit Asia someday.
I have lived in Seoul for almost 3 yrs & I wholeheartedly agree! They may be pushing their kids to get the grades but you see a lot of adults who simply cannot think outside of the box.
Some of the anger directed at Chua undoubtably comes from sour grapes from slacker parents who never push their kids. However, at least as much comes from the revulsion of hearing a mother brag about abusing her kids. Child abuse should never be an acceptable parenting technique regardless of the results. A more balanced approach, with some pushing along with allowing social activities would be more realistic for most families. And why are the kids only allowed piano and violin as extracurriclar activities? Not everyone has interest or talent in these two activities. Kids should be allowed some choice to find an activity they enjoy and have some ability in.
As a father of 3 married to a Japanese (by birth and education as well as ethnicity) mother, I cry foul.
The lack of excessive and meaningless standards don’t imply the lack of standards, or inappropriate standards. Nor are either a guarantee of success.
I’ll put my PhD student youngest daughter (in a hard science program in which half the students are Chinese) up against anyone. We eventually abandoned piano. The only rule for sports was you had to finish the season. They stuck with the ones they liked. They had friends, and the odd sleepover. She didn’t finish first in her class, but she’s doing great at something she loves, something she didn’t know existed when she was in High School.
Who is happier? Who will be more successful?
I finished second in my High School class, despite lacking the Asian mother. No piano, we couldn’t afford it. I’m in a fairly middling status, good paying IT job. I had time to enjoy my kids growing up. They didn’t lack for much economically. They are all college grads. I’m happy. Am I a success or a failure by Ms Chua’s standards? I did OK by mine. I wouldn’t trade places with some higher status people.
Sounds like you took the good parts of the Asian model and left the bad parts behind; THAT’s what’s made this nation great. But to Christians, Ms Chua’s original method of forcing beloved children of God into a Communist-like mold, is kind of horrifying. I’m glad to hear she modified things later.
Name one original modern technology that was invented in China. I don’t know of any. The overwhelming majority of technology that moves the world forward has been invented in the US. Other countries copy it or steal it. In the case of Japan, they are very good at making a multitude of tiny improvements on devices which they did not invent.
Stop and think about what kind of culture you want to emulate. Asian pedagogy is largely a matter of memorization of the “correct” answers, how can it not result in stagnation?
To give credit where credit is due, Skype was invented by an Estonian. Drone technology was invented by the Israelis.
Speaking of Israel, it’s worth mentioning that Jewish culture is substantially more accomplished than any Asian culture. I think it comes from the fact that Jewish culture emphasizes hard work more in the abstract and encourages children to find an area where they can excel.
So far all China can claim by comparison is the ability to churn out students who can play piano and score good grades in school. For its size, Israel alone makes China look like a joke.
It’s a little known fact that a lot of Intel’s R&D is actually done in Israel these days (the Pentium M was actually created in Israel).
I remember my teacher once telling me that the Chinese students were smart, but so introverted and a-social, that they excelled best when they all sat together at the back of the class and spoke to no one. Pretty sad actually.
Having worked at a Venture Capital fund in Tel Aviv for 5 years, I can personally attest to the genius coming out of that tiny country. 1/1,000th the size of China.
Did ‘rigorous upbringing’ of children have anything to do with the the political oppression practiced in the People’s Republic of China? Is family training the way to get people to accept the status of slaves? Doesnt tyranny and abuse in the family serve as a model for the larger society?
Maybe American moms are a bulwark of a free society…
“Maybe American moms are a bulwark of a free society…”
amen edwins
“why, how dare she share how she encourages her children to meet their potential?”
so allowing your child to have friends and CHOOSE if they want to play an instrument is not encouraging them to meet their potential?
as a mother of a gifted child that struggled with perfectionism when he was younger i know first hand the stress and destructiveness that can be caused by the mindset that a child must have perfect grades and must focus solely on learning…THANK GOD our school system has very wise teachers who worked with me to show him that he did NOT have to be perfect in order to achieve his potential. he is now on full scholarship at an ivy league university pursuing HIS desire to reach his full potential (not mine or someone else’s vision for him) and is a well rounded socially and mentally healthy young man. a parents job is not to force their vision on their child it is to guide them to discover theirs
“For decades now, we’ve stood by in denial as affirmative action programs have dumbed down our university/college system and work environments. We’ve been vaguely aware that the drive to include more blacks and Hispanics has been at the sacrifice of better-qualified Asians”
yes this is true but the answer is not to turn our children into neurotic perfectionist any more than it was to “dumb” down our educational system. what we need is a common sense approach (which would be a novel idea for our government) which says to take what is working in the “good” schools and implement them in the “bad” schools.
“This is incomprehensible to Americans, whose religious devotion to individualism”
your damn straight it is our religious devotion…individualism is the foundation of america while strict mass conformity is the the foundation of communism
Out of the thousands of posters to the WSJ article, I was one of the few who saw a great deal of merit in the Asian ‘tiger mother’ approach and actually defended the author. Americans were at one time much closer to her parenting style, but parents have become far less demanding of their children than in previous generations. One has only to look at SAT scores that have been steadily dropping year after year since the 1960’s. The entire self-esteem movement that offers up rewards and good grades for little or no effort has allowed parents a convenient rationalization for being lax. Many parents have given up offering much in the way of guidance to their offspring to the point of letting them go completely wild.
Mainly what prompted me to make a comment to Amy Chua’s article was what seemed to be the one-sided, excessive, totally over-the-top vitriol that this article elicited, and I’m sure Amy Chua was shocked as well. Clearly it touched an exposed nerve in many people for various reasons. One large contingent were all the parents who were defending their own ‘Western’ “whatever floats your boat” parenting style. An equally large contingent were Asian-Americans who had grown up under a demanding parent and felt that they had suffered from it with lingering feelings of low self-worth. Almost as many comments were made just to take a slam against the Chinese government, Chinese culture, and Asian people in general. Many commenters consoled themselves in thinking that American individual creativity will always be able to out compete the ‘robotic’ Asian cultures.
Clearly parents should be encouraged to be a more demanding of their children and not allow them to easily quit something once they have started just because it has become difficult. An of course, each parent has to judge the abilities and interests of their offspring to determine how much they can be pushed and in what direction, and should not do it for the selfish motives, e.g. parental bragging rights or even worse, sadistic pleasure. Most parents want the best for their children, but having a contemporary culture that encourages them to consider their kids as so fragile that few demands can be placed on them, lest it damage their little egos is eventually going to have long-term negative consequences for their children’s futures and for the future of the country. Too many children waste far too much of their childhood staring at a television screen to no good purpose. Practicing a musical instrument or some other skill would be a far better use of their time than drifting off into the mindless entertainment offered up by the popular culture. If our children are not motivated to compete in the world, then other parts of the world will surpass us.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing will focus the minds of children more than the total repeal of the welfare programs. For without welfare, failure pays a price.
Didn’t the guy who posted “please don’t raise my taxes, I’m liberal just like you?” get death threats? Didn’t people who voted on Prop * get death threats? Death threats aren’t culturally Chinese. They’re culturally- unhinged, impolite Net Posters Culture.
Pah- lease.
What planet do you live on, that mothers get a free ride at any point on this journey? Care- and you are caring too much, and anal- retentive to boot. Even on discussions on what sort of diapers to use ( see Salon articles). Precious was a fictional story. Not a documentary. It’s about like decrying gardeners, or vacationers in Mexico, when talking about White Oleander, another fiction. Please. There is not one single maternal position that does not arouse ire and homicidal tendencies, including the choice to be a mother in the first place ( see : Breeders, Child- Free) Even something as simple as becoming a welfare mom- Ariel Gore can talk about the abuse she has endured on that count. Not one single moment of maternity- including being pregnant- is not contested, condemned, loathed…..all of it. Ms Chua would not now be in the hot seat if she had written about her driven management style at work. She chose to open up her baby picture brag book, and now she’s surprised she’s getting hammered for making maternal choices.
Chinese culture hasnt been eviscerated by Leftwingers intent on its destruction.
Thus they are more confident in their cultural transmission of values to their kids.
sorry but i just can not let this article go…lol…
i get so tired of hearing how americans are fat, stupid, lazy , racist bigots and everyone else in the world is so much smarter and works so much harder than we do. seeing as how we are the worlds largest economy and the only super power logic would suggest that this can in no way be true not to mention the fact that it is racist to think such and it stinks of a propagandist foundation to topple a democracy
If it works for Mrs. Chua within her cultural context fine I suppose. It is certainly not the only pathway to achievement however. For example Jewish Americans achieve at or better that Asian Americans in education and socioeconomic status. Jewish families also have high expectations for their kids and academic success is expected. Yet the parenting style is the exact opposite of hers. Stuff like sleepovers, sports and summer camps are things Jewish parents encourage their kids to do. Rather than conforming to parents wishes Jewish kids are encouraged to pursue their own talents and interests.
I dont know any anwers but after reading the article I think I will give my indulgent western Jewish mom a call and tell her how much I love her.
What you say is very true, and yet I am quite sure that no newspaper will be featuring that story. It is the new thing to bemoan our failure to be good little apparatchiks. Clearly there is an agenda to groom us for serfdom.
asian societies place a very heavy emphasis on the respect of elders:
parents (grandparents and older relatives as well) and teachers top this hierarchy…
SCHOOLING:
one must be cautious, with the infiltration of statism in our education system, with the getting “perfect” grades scenario…
what does it take to get “perfect” grades in school nowadays?– usually there is a heavy dose of “kissing” the instructors arse and blindly following their every instruction…
this can lead to an influx of very disciplined, very motivated, very loyal, pre-totalitarians being farmed and harvested…
MUSIC:
sure, there are asian children that excel at copying and repeating musical works of the great masters but where are the artists creating something “new”?
the “tiger-mom/dad” methods work well for asians. no problem with that. their involvement in their children’s lives is a boon to our society. their distaste for the “touchy-feely” is to be admired and the hard-work ethic and respect for elders is beneficial to our society up to a point.
however, there are plenty of “american” families that “succeed” also. in fact, although our overall standing in education is a bit laggy compared with other modern, industrial societies, our very top students lead the pack.
the point is that, as americans, we dont want the “one-size fits all” approach to anything. what works for one may not work for another but as long as parents want their kids to be productive, well-balanced members of our society then we are all on the same side.
I find it interesting that critics, and pundits, are ballyhooing Chua’s book, at the very same time that our president is wining and dining China’s leader, and we’re all supposed to be pleased as punch with our new friend, and its leading economic role in the world, and, oh, gosh wow, we should all be more like China! Shouldn’t we be more like China? Oh, gosh, wow, those Chinese tiger moms, they’re raising great kids, with great SAT scores! We should be more like China.
Please. Don’t fall for it.
As for Chua, she is, in my opinion, a lousy mother. Among other things, she puts down, insults and negates her husband, and apparently allows him little, to no role, in her daughters’ upbrining; a good mother doesn’t denigrate the father of her children.
As for China, and its children. . .children were expected to take care of their parents when they were old, in that society; that is not a bad thing at all, but, in China’s very materialistic culture, parents would gamble all on having a successful son, who would pass examinations, win a government post and bring honor to the family. Girls, and malformed boys, were routinely abandoned, and such children are still abandoned, in horrible “orphanages” today, since the problem has grown worse, with China’s one-child policy.
So, there is a dark side to “Tiger mothering”, and demanding your child be the best (so he can support you in style); what happens when kids are seen as a burden, not a blessing, because they won’t be a good economic investment? Chua is Chinese American, and her daughters are girls, but the same thing seems to be at work here. Chinese children must be the best, so they can get good jobs, get into ivy league schools, earn lots of money—and we Americans are now supposed to be exactly like them?
Look at their society—and China has done some wonderful things in the past, and has had some great art poetry, etc.—but do we really want to follow their social/family systems, whether past or present?
It isn’t Chinese Tiger Mothers, by the way, who are rescuing abandoned babies in China; nope, the Chinese Tiger Mothers are spoiling rotten their one, precious boy child. The rescuers are westerners, eager to adopt Chinese babies. This should give us something to think about.
I think it’s partly genetic. So sue me, some races are naturally smarter than others as a whole.
Let me see:
Which nation got to the Moon, built the greatst economy ever seen, and has dominated the past century? And how many tyrant mothers were required to make this possible? None?
Right. The “Chinese Way” may “work,” but the “American Way” when it was practiced assiduously, worked better. How well has the “Japanese Way” worked? Right.
Let’s get off this obnoxious, slavish infatuation with supposed East Asian superiority and start doing things the old-fashioned American way to restore our luster, prosperity and power. No need to terrorize our kids in the process; didn’t have to do so the first time around, did we?
The nation that put men to the Moon was a nation with a parenting style more similar to the style of Amy Chua than the parenting style of current US.
The people working at and for the NASA were born during the Great Depression, where failing was like starving, losing home and job.
The style of Amy Chua can fail if she misjudge her children abilities and skills. But she teach her children the habit of working hard and, never give up, never quit.
I would say, compare her with the style of Arthur Robinson (widow with six children). It is not so different. Compare it with the style of the Duggards with their 19 children.
People talking about “abuse” are ridiculous.
You are on the same wave-lenght of people claiming that keeping terrorists standing up for 12 hours is “torture”, when there are people that stand up more when working and don’t complain.
First, there are FEW “mother’s” (and parents) of children in America anymore. America’s parents fall into a couple of categories. 1) Without appropriate social and educational skills to influence and assist their children beyond the second or third grades. 2) Chasing material status and possessions and ignoring their children.
Most American parents, regardless of social and economic status, spend less than 20 hours per week of “quality” parenting time with their children.
Since when does ANY rational and responsible parent let their children define what their absolute “best” is in anything. Responsible parents assist and challenge their children throughout their learning years to establish a level of “best” achievement potential at each step. At best, most American parents demand high grades and achievement from their children but provide nothing substantive in parenting and assistance beyond demanding.
Today, there was a report that among 3 to 5 year olds only 14% could tie shoe strings while 43% could operate a smart phone. Gadget’s, digital games and TV, lounging, and sleep have become the parental influence of todays American children. Children are no longer given or taught responsibility…acceptable social norms, good work ethics, good health and physical conditioning…much less mental conditioning and challenge.
The numbers of guest workers and certified foreign labor continues to rise each year breaking record demand each year, over the past three decades…..doctors, nurse, scientists, skilled technologists, professors and teachers, agriculture, etc., because America’s children fail to achieve at the required levels. America’s military is now working with their new recruit candidates beginning in their junior year of high school in an attempt to qualify them physically by graduation for entry into the services.
Silly me! All this rambling and I’ve seemingly forgotten that all America’s childhood and youth failures come at the hands of bad classroom teachers.
The Barbarity of Chinese Mothers
As the Paramount Leader of China, Hu Jintao, the Chinese Tiger Father, wings it back to the homeland after eating alive the American dove, there’s a new the talk of the town, the Chinese Tiger Mother, Amy Chua.
The Yale Law School professor and author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua doesn’t pull many punches on what she believes is the proper upbringing of children in America. In a Wall Street Journal article, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” Chinese-American mother Chua unequivocably outlines her, and the Oriental philosophy, on why they are superior. In essence, they care far more about their kids’ academic lives than their social lives.
That parenting approach results in successful and accomplished kids but at a cost, some say, which raises the question of what America and Americans want most from and for our kids–success and accomplishment or happy-go-lucky dolts.
That Chinese kids almost always outshine their non-Oriental counterparts shouldn’t be a revelation to any parent with children in American public schools. Unless those parents are totally ignorant, they must have noticed that the kids who invariably excel academically, win awards–and not for Athlete of the Year– and get scholarships to the best colleges and universities in the land are children of Chinese, (and Indian), heritages.
While not disparaging other parents, although she very reasonably looks askance at the American obsession with inculcating a sense of self-esteem in their kids above all else and with education experts who insist that learning has to be fun, Chua has other priorities. Some of those priorities and do’s and don’ts would cause busybody self-esteemers to grab the phone and notify Child Protection Services of abuse.
While millions of other kids are watching child porn on MTV’s “Skins,” her kids are being subjected to what American, Western ”progressives” might charge is parental abuse. The true abusers is a matter of debate.
For example, Mrs. Chua forbids her two daughters . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=3463)
If I remember correctly, even in the USA it was once upon a time, ancient days? believed that accomplishment went a long way to achieving self-esteem.
I wouldn’t be surprised that in some places and in some families even in the USA today accomplishment at something difficult that requires long practice and discipline is still honoured, and even “forced” on the children. Used to be the Jewish mother who had high ambitions for her children and insisted they practice the piano or whatever. Some of these children are now high achievers in the arts, medicine, engineering, architecture, hard and even soft science AND can still play the piano/ violin/horn to concert stage level. Some of them can even swim and play tennis or box. Does anyone believe they don’t have self esteem? Have you never heard any of them say they’re glad their mothers forced them to practice. Do you believe this was done without conflict?
Perhaps forcing/encouraging? recalcitrant children to accept and win at a challenge is one reason Americans were so successful at so many things in those ancient days. And that today many are very good at displaying themselves in all their glory, but can neither read nor understand their own language, do simple maths without calculator among other civic and personal limitations. We do not honour enough those American mothers who still force their children to accomplishment / self-esteem /civil behaviours based on self-discipline.
Perhaps the Chinese mother, as the Jewish, and other ethnic mothers gave their children THE most valuable gift: rather than ritual praise belief in their capabilities and insistence they strive to meet the best in themsselves.
Ms. Chua’s children are not exceptional. They have won a few music awards. That’s it. And those awards were won at a high cost. She describes — in her own book — constant yelling, insulting, threats.
When those kids go off to college, they are not going to want to practice six hours a day. They will lose many of those skills they acquired through their mother’s domination and control. And I wonder if music itself has been ruined for them, since it’s assoicated with such bad memories.
And I bet they will rarely call their mother, certainly not for advice of any kind. Or their father–who failed to protect them from their mother’s violence (she hit them when they failed to practice well) and verbal abuse.
A little girl is one of the sweetest things in the world, so anxious for love and approval. Ms. Chua took advantage of her daughter’s sweet natures and their need for her love. Then she wrote a book describing her nacissism as a “Chinese” method of parenting.
We are being given a false choice, here; the choice being put to us is, “YOU MUST BE MORE LIKE A CHINESE MOTHER, OR YOUR CHILD WILL GROW UP TO BE A DOLTISH SLACKER WHO DOES NOTHING MORE THAN PLAY VIDEO GAMES!”
As if there’s no happy medium between being a slacker, or being a driven, obsessed all A’s Chinese student, sawing away at the violin, and never talking back to their parents.
Interesting that all this water-carrying for splendiferous Chinese motherhood comes at JUST the same time Prime Minister Hu is visiting Obama. Yes, let’s all be more like the Chinese; it’s what Dear Leader wants.
Go google China’s one-child policy, and its practice of abandoning unwanted baby girls, and defective boys, in hideous child-killing orphanages. Tiger mothers aren’t interested in their kids unless said kids can be molded into social-climbing wage earners, for Mums, Dadders and the glorious state.
Chinese motherhood is barbaric.
Silly American parents, treating your kids as if they were something special, instead of just future workers for the glorious peoples’ state, and investments for their parents! The True meaning of life is to be found in doing everything Mommy and Daddy tell you to, and obeying the state, which is, after all, just a bigger version of Mum & Pop! After all, Mums and poppers know what’s best for you—and so does the state! So, just shut up, quit whining and practice your violin 3 hours a day! Mambo wants to be proud of you, and how can she be proud if you can’t pound out “Heart & Soul” on the piano? If you don’t make Mumsy proud, you have no value whatsoever, and are just garbage.
Instead of playing silly video games, making friends or studying such useless things as the flute, or the plays of William Shakespeare, you should concentrate on getting all A’s, even in stuff like higher mathematics, or physics, for which you might not have any apptitude; don’t tell Mommy you can’t do it! You’re making Mommsie unhappy, you wretched little piece of garbage! You have no worth at all! It’s only Mommy and Poppy who have any worth in this family! (Although in Chua’s case, you do get the impression she doesn’t think much of her husband.)
One might ask the Uighers, the Tibetans and millions of “missing” Chinese girls exactly what they think of Tiger mothering, and China in general. Now, now, don’t ask that kind of thing! Just shut up, and practice being more Chinese! The state wants to be proud of you! How can it be proud when you keep acting so—ugh!—American?
/Sarc. Of course.