Mongolian Culture In The Film Babies

Balmes’s documentary focuses on two babies from developing countries and two babies from developed countries in order to show how parents from

Chinese parents and American parents differ greatly in their parenting styles and a noticeable difference can be seen in the success of their children. The children of Chinese parents often excel in various areas, including in their educational, musical, and professional lives. The children of American parents, however, usually have a harder time excelling in those areas. Chinese parents and American parents hold opposing philosophies about how they view their children, opposing methods about how they raise their children, and opposing effects on the personalities of their children.

‘Babies’ is a documentary film which chronicles the first year of life of four babies spanning the globe. Documentarian Thomas Balmès fans out to the grasslands of Namibia, the plains of Mongolia, the high rises of Tokyo and the busy streets of San Francisco in a study of culture, societal structure, geography and tradition, along with parental love and the impact all these elements have on child rearing. In the hunting and gathering society of Namibia and pastoral Mongolia, Balmès follows Ponijao and Bayar and in postindustrial Tokyo and San Francisco we are introduced to Mari and Hattie. While the 1:18 film has no real dialogue, viewers are able to get a distinct feel for each baby’s personality, the role they play within the family

In the film Babies Thomas Balmès elegantly and wordlessly captures the first year of life through the eyes of four unique cultures. This film follows four babies Panijao from Namibia, Mari from Japan, Hattie from the United States, and Bayarjargal from Mongolia. The main purpose of the film is to show how the four cultures differ in their behaviors with infants. One of the striking differences is the role the parents play in the documentary and how they interact with their newborn infants. In contrast, the film also shows the similarities in infancy even in vastly different environments and cultures.

The documentary Babies by Thomas Balmès is a film that takes place in four very different locations around the world. The documentary follows four babies and their families from when they are first born as they grow up and are able to walk. We watch Ponijao grow up in Namibia, Bayar grow up in Mongolia, Hattie grow up in San Francisco, and Mari grow up in Tokyo. Because the babies are from such different places, the documentary allows us to see what it is like growing up in cultures that we are currently unfamiliar with. The film opens up your eyes to the various forms of living in other areas around the world. In this paper, I will discuss the universal themes I noticed, my personal reflection of the film, the various

Among the four families in the documentary, “Babies”, there were only some similarities but many differences. There were only a few similarities that I could recognize. One of them was between the Japanese baby, Mari, and the American baby, Hattie. They both participated in a mother and baby class, which involved interacting with others. Another similarity between these two babies is that both of their families got together at least once during the documentary to enjoy a home cooked meal and with conversation amongst each other. Surprisingly, those were only the main similarities I noticed throughout the documentary. In contrast, I did notice many differences among these families of different cultures and societies. One difference was that the baby from Africa, Ponijao, never wore a diaper. When she had to go to the bathroom she would freely go and the excess would be rubbed off on her mother’s knee. While on the other hand, the American baby, Hattie,

According to Amy Chua in “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, the parenting styles of “Chinese mothers” are much more effective than “Western parents”. Chua writes her title most likely in an attempt to attract attention and cause controversy. She argues that the parenting styles of Chinese mothers may seem as though they don’t care for their children, but that isn’t the case. Chua states that Chinese mothers push their children so they “can be ‘the best’, and that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting,’” (Chua 262). She states, on the other hand, that Western parents are too worried about their child’s self-esteem. She argues in her article that Chinese parents can get away with things Western parents can’t such as calling their children “garbage”, their children owe their parents everything, and the parents know what is best for their children and override all of their children’s own wishes. Although Chua raises the point that Chinese mothers tend to have more successful children than Western parent, the children’s mental health, and sometimes physical health, from these extreme acts of parenting can put the child in

Parenting styles differ from generations, as well as, from different countries across the world. When two different cultures collide, that leaves parents in a limbo in trying to decide what parenting technique would be the most beneficial for future offspring. Amy Chua, a Yale Law School graduate of Chinese descent, wrote a story about the details of her and her husbands’ choice in how to parent their children. The book is entitled “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” which she proclaims that “Chinese parents are better at raising children than westerners”. At creation of this book, Chua has received an enormous amount of feedback, mostly negative. However, the article “Amy Chua is a Wimp” written by author David Brooks, offers a different take on Chuas’ book. Which leaves everyone wondering what really is the best way to set up the next generation to reach their highest potential.

In Meredith Small’s article Our Babies, Ourselves she focuses on people’s social and psychological development through examining the different cultural aspects of raising a child. During this process she compares the American perspective of treating babies, to those of the Gusii and the Dutch. Throughout her examination many points are made that I believe can give the reader’s a valuable understanding of the impact of different means of parenthood on a child’s future development.

Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings

On July 9, 1985, a pygmy-like infant was born only with four fingers and no calves. The family did not show the infant, Hee-Ah to the mother and said to her that they cannot raise Hee-Ah. Everybody except the infant’s mother wanted to give the infant up to adoption to Canada because of the physical disability. They did not think that the infant could live readily in Korea where disabled people are ignored. However, her mother did not give up and made up her mind to raise Hee-Ah. Although she could foresee a rough and rugged future, she could not be away from her baby because she got the baby in 8 years with a husband who was also physically disabled.

Chinese parents that have immigrated to the United States from China are known to have an Authoritative approach to child-rearing. In a study done by Cindy Lin, parents from China (Taiwan), immigrant Chinese living in America, and American parent’s child-rearing practices were compared. In her study she found that Chinese parents tend to control their children more than American Parents, as well as be less

Children who are pulled out of their normal environment and inserted into different surroundings face an identity crisis due to the importance of identity in determining who one truly is. In a study, Trolly, Wallin, and Hansen discovered that fewer than fifty percent of the parents of foreign children felt that their children were only somewhat aware of their birth culture (Hollingsworth 48:209). These children lack a sense of who they really are and later in life will become confused on why they differ from their new families. Though it is often a painful topic that parents choose not to bring up, it is important that children understand their background because it results in a better quality of life. However, the prevalence of “cultural socializations” was low amongst Caucasian families who adopted Asian children (Deater-Deckard, Johnston, Petrill, Saltsman, and Swim 56:390). It is made clear that Westerners lack the cultural knowledge necessary to properly educate their internationally adopted children about the culture the children come from. This can result in a variety of psychological implications due to the significant effect of identity on the health of people of color (Deater-Deckard, Johnston, Petrill, Saltsman, and Swim 56:390). These implications tend to be internalized rather than externalized. In the same study, Chinese adoptees displayed the possibility of behavior such as hyperactivity, aggression,

Parents have all kinds of different methods and strategies for raising their kids. There are many different parenting styles, but in Amy’s book she talks about two main ones, you have the rigid and oppressive “Chinese parents”, then on the other end of the spectrum you have “Westren parents” which are more lenient and consciously aware of their kids self esteem. Amy Chua believes in the way of how Chinese parents raise their children and she uses some of their techniques in her own family. In “The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom” Amy Chua describes the discrepancies of Chinese and Western parents on how children should be brought up. She provides some of her own experiences to justify how strict Chinese parents are and how they expect nothing less than perfect.

The cultural differences within our society of today occur more often than one would believe. Cultural differences occur due to how we were raised and the beliefs we were instilled with. A main cultural difference that has been in the spotlight recently is the idea of how to raise one’s children. After Yale law professor Amy Chua had excerpts of her book published in the Wall Street Journal, sparks flew bashing her parenting methods which she uses on her young children. Chua, who grew up with Chinese parents, chooses to use Chinese parenting styles to drive her children to success. Chua bashes the Western parenting styles within her writing pieces, claiming that her parenting techniques are superior. Many critics disagree with her