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Analysis Of Amy Chua's 'Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior'

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When I read Amy Chua's piece, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” I feel the conflict of two different parenting styles illuminated in my life. Although I grew up under what Chua describes as “Western parenting,” I recall there were many Chinese moments in my house. My mother was not always sympathetic to my desires or complaints. The struggle not to repeat the neglectful behavior of her own parents governed the style of parenting she used on me. While my mother did not stress academic success as a Chinese mother would, sometimes she did shame me and override my desires. According to Chua, Chinese parents are chiefly concerned with success in the classroom. If a child brings home a B (she brings attention to the fact this “would never happen” to a Chinese child) it results in a “screaming, hair-tearing explosion” and the parents spend hours rectifying the perceived failure with “dozens of practice tests.” The idea is that Chinese parents believe their children can, and should be, “the best” in what they do. In …show more content…

However, while a Chinese child's punishment might be considered actionable in this case, my mother was admittedly less severe. Punishment usually involved cutting my access to video games, or being yelled at inconsistently for an hour as she thought of new reasons to complain about my behavior. Besides that, grounding a child was an alien concept in our house. Although my mother did shame me and call me names in anger or frustration, she would quickly resume her normal friendly attitude towards me as if nothing had happened. She would regret her actions and expect me to forget the things she said, but the damage had been done. The only behavior her shaming tactics nurtured was resentment. After a while, I stopped opening up to my mother and to this day, I still avoid telling her intimate details about my life because I do not always appreciate her type of

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