Domineering Asian Parents

[PJ]

It's a publicity stunt so that people will buy her book. New update on wiki.

So my suspicision is confirmed.

[kidd]

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2011/...re_not_su.html

This is a pretty interesting take on it.
The fact that the Wall Street Article was actually bits and pieces of her book used to portray her a certain way definitely puts a slant on things. Funny how our perceptions about her change quite a bit.

What I like about this article is he teases out her core beliefs about herself from the kind of information she mentions. That she's speaking from the background of an afluent lawyer, not from a chinese mother etc.

I read some of the reviews in Amazon. It is true that she's preparing her kids for college. She has no intention of letting her girls be professional pianist or violist. The piano and violin playing is just for college application, so that her kids will have leverage over others. She intended them to get into Med or Law school.

[kidd]

The aftermath of the backlash on the WSJ article. Now, we hear Ms.Chua's side of the story (aka defense). Personally, I think she's trying to put out the fire and present herself in a better light after the backlash from her WSJ article.

Retreat of the ‘Tiger Mother’
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/fa...pagewanted=all

I'm especially annoyed with this part of her answer. Uh, what 'being forced to answer questions about a book I didn't write'? WSJ might have put in a controversial title, but, the content was lifted directly from her book. She wrote those contents. How can she said now she didn't write? Maybe the excerpt didn't represent her whole book, but, she did write those stuff.

If she has one regret, she said, it is that the Journal excerpt, and particularly the headline, did not reflect the full arc of her story.

Her book is a memoir that ends with her relenting (sort of) when the younger of her two teenage daughters refuses to go along with the “extreme parenting” Ms. Chua uses to prevent the kind of decline that she thinks makes some third-generation Asian-Americans as soft and entitled as their teammates on suburban soccer teams where every child is declared Most Valuable Player.

“I’ve been forced to answer questions about a book I didn’t write,” she said. “It’s not saying what people should do, it’s saying, ‘Here’s what I did, and boy did I learn a lesson.’ ” All this is captured, she said, in the book’s three-paragraph subtitle, which concludes with the words, “and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.”

[kidd]

Two more write up on Amy Chua and the book. It puts her in a better light as she has started to change at the end of the book after Lulu's outburst.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable

http://disgrasian.com/2011/01/battle...ok/#more-15065

[xJadedx]

Eh, I think I'm going to stop caring about this now. Essentially, yuppie writes a bad article, sells her book a bit, gets backlash, now tries to damage control. Wait, that actually just sounds like a typical lawyer yuppie. Not really news anymore.

[Banh Mi]

I'm especially annoyed with this part of her answer. Uh, what 'being forced to answer questions about a book I didn't write'? WSJ might have put in a controversial title, but, the content was lifted directly from her book. She wrote those contents. How can she said now she didn't write? Maybe the excerpt didn't represent her whole book, but, she did write those stuff.

To clarify, what she meant was they portayed her book as something different from what she intended. The wall street journal article portrays her as telling people how they should act as parents. She's saying her book is a biography of sorts, it's meant to tell her story about how she changed from a major ***** to a lesser *****. She didn't want to write a how-to book, but that's what the wall street journal article puts her as.

[kidd]

To clarify, what she meant was they portayed her book as something different from what she intended. The wall street journal article portrays her as telling people how they should act as parents. She's saying her book is a biography of sorts, it's meant to tell her story about how she changed from a major ***** to a lesser *****. She didn't want to write a how-to book, but that's what the wall street journal article puts her as.

I know what she meant. I just disagree. That's why I said 'Maybe the excerpt didn't represent her whole book, but, she did write those stuff.'

The WSJ might have portrayed her in a more extreme light than she portrayed herself in her book with the parts they chose to publish, but, those parts were still written by her. WSJ showed her in her earlier major ***** mode and let readers find out the whole story when they buy her book.

And according to her, the article is not written or compiled by her. It's all WSJ's work. By the time she saw the version WSJ intended to publish, it's tool late. Uh, WSJ practiced this? They copy and paste from your book and then put your name up as the article writer and post it on their website?

Chua responded to a brief message I sent her introducing myself and asking for an interview bysaying that she was glad to hear from me, as she'd been looking for a way to discuss her misgivings about the Journal article. Apparently, it had been edited without her input, and by the time she saw the version they intended to run, she was limited in what she could do to alter it.

"I was very surprised," she says. "The Journal basically strung together the most controversial sections of the book. And I had no idea they'd put that kind of a title on it. But the worst thing was, they didn't even hint that the book is about a journey, and that the person at beginning of the book is different from the person at the end -- that I get my comeuppance and retreat from this very strict Chinese parenting model."

Anyway, the WSJ's tactic works. Her book is #4 in Amazon.

We well never know the whole story behind the article.

[kidd]

Anyway, according to her, the book was written after the terrible fight with her younger daughter Lulu.

http://www.quora.com/Parenting/Is-Am...swer/Ray-Kwong

The whole Tiger Mom thing pretty much gets the big kabosh anyway when Amy's younger daughter goes ballistic and rebels. Paraphrasing Amy to keep this short: "I actually wrote this book in a moment of crisis, after my younger daughter seemed to turn against everything I stood for and it felt like I was losing her and everything was falling apart. After one terrible fight, I sat down at my computer, and even though I usually have writers block, this time the words just poured out – I wrote the first 2/3 of the book in two months. I showed every page to my daughters, and my husband. It was like family therapy.

So, this book is like a healing book for her and her family. It's like how people write a book about their life to let go.

I'm kinda interested to read the book now.

[Banh Mi]

I know what she meant. I just disagree. That's why I said 'Maybe the excerpt didn't represent her whole book, but, she did write those stuff.'

The WSJ might have portrayed her in a more extreme light than she portrayed herself in her book with the parts they chose to publish, but, those parts were still written by her. WSJ showed her in her earlier major ***** mode and let readers find out the whole story when they buy her book.

Yeah she wrote all that, but as a memoir, not as a parenting guide. Much as I don't like what she does, added that she's making big bucks off it. I think it's still a valid claim. It's like if you took Hitler's memoirs and read it as a book on how to be a leader instead of a story of his life.

[Ken Cheng]

CNN writer Ken Chen (no relation) weighs in.

[Ken Cheng]

Another Asian-American CNN writer, Lac Su, also weighs in.

The English instructor in me cringed, however, that he improperly used "bare" instead of "bear" twice in his essay. If he didn't catch it, CNN's editors should have.

[wkeej]

Initially I wanted to write something longer. But realized that being no parent, I should not comment too much.

From a child's perspective, I believe that all parents want their children to do well. It is the "well" which differ. Some parents (possibly mine) want their children to grow up as a honest being. Some may want them to be doctors, accountants, lawyers. Some may want the children to try until they succeed (possibly Amy).

[wkeej]

CNN writer Ken Chen (no relation) weighs in.

OT: Of course. Different family names.

[kidd]

Amy Chua's interviews. Quite interesting. Especially the first interview. Make you understand her POV better and also see more into her family dynamic. The dad did play an important role to create a balance.

Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother

The Tiger Mother Talks Back

[kidd]

Her eldest daughter, Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, speak out for her mother.

Tiger Mommie Dearest: Amy Chua's Daughter on Life as a Tiger Cub
Why I love my strict Chinese mom

[wkeej]

From research perspective, having one's kin to speak up for one another may pertain to bias. It is better if neutral party (e.g. other parents and a group > 30) speaks up.

[Candide]

I don't understand people who would buy books based on publicity stunts like this, and judging by its sales, that's a lot of them.

[mind_wander]

I just wanted to let you all know this article was shown on NBC morning show today.My mom was there watching it and commented,"Her cheek bones shows an external impression which gives an outlook like someone who's a very aggressive person;I don't like this personality type its to high strong."

Lol,I couldn't stop laughing inside,it came from my mom I do agree,in addition she raised both me and my brother very well.I wasn't set aside with a strict time schedule to play the instruments,like Amy Chua stated.Instead,we were taught the basic practical princples of everyday life and things to pay attention on, four our fundation.What happens if you don't pay the bills on time?,saving money,and many more,etc. etc.These were some things she was taught at a very young age;I don't take it so lightly.Except the not getting A+ you get a time out thing;maybe when I was a kid.As you get older there are more important things to harness on from all sides;tons of life lessons both failure and success.