Friday, January 14, 2011

Tiger Mothers



{Google Images}

I know, I know, I am a WHOLE WEEK LATE with this breaking news item, but um...wow. How do I even respond to an article like this? Maybe Amy Chua just missed the mark in terms of what she was trying to convey (and I really, sincerely hope this is true)...but I feel like I see a lot of sterotypes in this article, and I am not comfortable with it.

Also- the proposed parenting techniques (uhmmm, like calling your daughter "garbage" in front of guests) kind of make me want to die.

Side note: When Chua also says that she uses the words "Chinese mother" loosely, and that she knows some other (namely Jamaican/West Indian, ahem) mothers who qualify as well? My parents never used any of those emotionally abusive techniques. Yes, I couldn't watch TV or play video games, but I did get to choose my own adventures.

What do you think? She is also a Yale Law professor. Oh man. Law. Lawyers. My chosen profession, ah.

I like what Jezebel has to say on the topic.

4 comments:

Emily said...

I saw her interview on the Today Show. She had a hard time conveying the true value of what she was doing. She ended up putting Western culture down in a big way (saying how horrible she finds the Western way of child rearing), which Meredith Viera called her on. Chua has this air of being supremely in the right without even considering another point of view. There is such a fundamental difference between Eastern and Western cultures on this score and I feel that both sides firmly believe that they're in the right, which, in the end, makes it challenging to understand each other's POV. Although in the case of Chua, I feel like her stance is a bit extreme and stereotypical. All in all, I certainly don't agree with her position!

Danielle said...

I know. I like to think that she means well, and yes, I agree that there are cultural differences that I am not necessarily equipped to understand, but I just can't get behind her argument.

Lindsey said...

I think this is an interesting response:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/14/american-mothers-superior/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Lindsey said...

Sorry, try this link: http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/14/american-mothers-superior/