Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior By Amy Cha Summary

In the writing of, America’s Top Parent, Elizabeth Kolbert outlines the parenting strategies of different mothers. Most notably, she talks about the “Chinese Mother,” which does not technically mean this individual must be of Chinese descent. Throughout the essay, Kolbert talks about another essay, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author of that essay, Amy Chua, believes in a binary world. Meaning that there are two kinds of mothers, “Chinese Mothers”, and “Western” mothers. Chinese mothers believe in extreme parenting, whereas Western mothers “think they are being strict when they insist that their children practice their instruments for half an hour a day” (Kolbert). On the other hand, Chinese mothers have much more specific rules

Reading Amy Chua’s Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior was a bit difficult. I had to stop myself from having multiple outburst because of what she has wrote. Amy’s argument that Chinese mothers are better parents, is questionable because it assumes that other parents don’t know who to raise their own children. I believe my parents raised us just fine, my siblings and I pushing for degrees is proof enough. Amy Chua was strict with her kids, believing that having fun and being a kid is a unnecessary distraction. That’s great kudos to her for keeping her kids focused but there is a flaw in that. Amy took her kids freedom away. Her daughters weren’t able to enjoy the simple things like going to a sleepover or playing with friends. They didn’t seem to have a choice when it came to academics either. In my own experience I had a choice. I was able to peruse “distractions” or study and better myself. My parents always told me I would either reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of my action in that respect. They always supported me even if I chose an academic subject they didn’t like. Amy can argue that having a choice is a flaw but at least I have one. Amy can also argue that she has set her kids up to succeed in life, but so have countless “lesser western parents”. Her method might be great but to say that one race is better than another is borderline arrogant. She should never assume that because she’s making an ass out of her and me.

In “Adapted from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” author Amy Chua argues that, instead of constantly praising a child for the slightest success, parents should only expect perfection from their children and nothing less. She explains that Western parents are not as strict on their children as Chinese parents are. That Western parents don’t believe in stressing educational success and that education should be something fun. In contrast, Chinese parents believe that academic success is very important and to get good at something it takes practice and hard work which may not seem fun at first but in the long run the activity becomes fun once mastered. Chua also believes that Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents cannot such as calling their child garbage after being misbehaved. Chua states three main differences between Western parents and Chinese parents.

It is true that the ways the parents raise their children will decide how well the children grow, especially the mothers who impact their children the most. There is no right or wrong in how a mother takes care of her children. All of them want the best for their children. The only difference is the level of intensity in how to raise a child. In Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School believes that the ways Chinese mothers raise their children are the most effective ways. Her main purpose of this article is to state the differences between Western mothers and Chinese mothers which

As America being such a diverse country, we come across the differences between cultures of immigrant families. Each culture having their own beliefs and values to what they think is right. Cultural diversity is seen everyday where there are different expressions or views from any person. Everyday cultural differences show society how each person has their own way of doing things. Amy Chua writes an excerpt called “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” on her way parenting her two daughters following the chinese culture. 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 leading them to success. She makes comparisons between western and chinese parents throughout the essay and concludes that both type of parents want the best for their children just do it in different ways (Chua 52). In the article, named “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” is an interview with the author Amy Chua where she clarifies her chinese way of parenting did not hurt her children the way the audience thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many good ways of parenting not just the chinese way (Luscombe, par.17). Reading Amy Chua’s essay has shown the chinese immigrant way of parenting where people gain knowledge on how they do things and answer their questions on how chinese people are so

In the article,” Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," author Amy Chua describes how parenting is approached in Chinese culture as compared to "Western parents." She compares Western and Chinese parents on how they approach their children’s' upbringings. She gives examples from her experiences raising her own daughters. Chua's daughters were not allowed to attend sleepovers and could not score grades any lower than an "A" in school classes. Chua also forced her kids in learning a piece for the piano. In separate story, author Amy Tan discusses the mother-daughter relationship in Chinese-American culture in "Two Kinds." This story is told from the viewpoint of an American-born Chinese girl named Jing-mei. Her immigrant mother, Mrs. Woo, believes that being in America is freedom and wants her daughter to take advantage of that freedom. Her mother has her try several activities in an attempt to

“In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be ‘the best’ students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting,’ and that if children did not excel at school then there was ‘a problem’ and parents ‘were not doing their job.’ … Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are

Chua talks about how in Chinese style parenting the parent is in control and whatever the parent says is what the child has to do. She says that Chinese parents think their children owe them everything. She says they still love their children and would do anything for them. She expresses that Western parents care about their children and their self-esteems too much. Chua claims that they would be fine with their child getting an A- whereas a Chinese parent would be upset.

Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, the author of “The World on Fire”, “Day of Empire”, and “Why They Fall”, in a Wall street Journal on January 8th, 2011, believes chinese mothers are the most rigorous on their children. The title of the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” was not chosen by Amy, but by the Wall Street Journal. Even though Amy did not write the title, there is reasoning that she does believe that chinese parenting is superior. Everyone is wondering how their children excel above everyone else. Thesis…

Questions have been raised on whether Chinese parenting raises more flourishing children than Western parenting. Despite what people think, in Amy Chua's essay “The Roar of the Tiger Mom”, she portrays the differences between the beliefs of Chinese parenting and Western parenting. Chua introduces the views of a Chinese parent compared to the views of a Western parent. The methods used by Chinese mothers in raising their children are drastically different from Western mothers. Each defends their methods and believes the other group is doing their job poorly. In the end, both types of parents just want one thing-- successful children.

In “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, the author Amy Chua stated that every parent, whatever race they are, has their own way of raising their children. Chua brought up some examples in her essay, and she believes that Chinese parents want better for their children, and Western parents are the same way. First the children are involved in different activities. Chua included a study in the essay, which said, “Western children participate in sports, while Chinese parents make their kids practice academic activities” (142-143). Secondly, Chinese parents

Parent, Amy Chua, in her article, "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," analyzes the reasons why Chinese mothers are superior in producing highly educated children during a time when China is in a one-child policy limiting number of kids a family can have to one, pushing parents to make their child as successful and smart to live on the family name. Chua's purpose is to explain how a Chinese mother raises their children to "perfection." She adopts a prideful tone in order to make her raising of her children as perfect as it can be reinforcing the idea that Chinese mothers are superior. Chua achieves her purpose through the use of discourteous and joyful diction and selection of details. In the beginning Amy Chua uses a discouraging tone to push

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

In the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” the author Amy Chua believes that by not allowing their kids to do a lot of things that normal children can do, Chinese mothers produce the smartest children. Some of the things they don’t allow their children to do are attend sleepovers, be in a school play, get a grade less than an A, and choose their own extracurricular activities. Chinese mothers are not superior but abusive because their methods seem to seclude them from learning the communication skills needed for success in their child's adulthood, it can hinder the relationship they have with their children, and can sometimes lead their children to develop thoughts of suicide.

Lastly, she points that Chinese parents believe to know what's best for their children. She goes on to give an example of this by saying "That's why Chinese daughters can't have boyfriends in high school and why Chinese kids can't go to sleepaway camp." Her belief in sorting out the child's priorities over their wants is an indicator that she focuses only on the things that can bring forth success opposed to Westerners who would permit their children to do these things along with others. Despite the opinions of others, she still has a positive outlook on the cultural Chinese parenting style.