Tiger Mothers in China

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“Tiger Mothers” in China (Topic 10) The book by Amy Chua entitled “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” raised a discussion about superiority (or inferiority) of the so-called tiger parenting. To begin with, I should presumably explain what does the term tiger mother mean. According to a website I have come across it is “a designation given to mothers who raise stereotypically successful children by being strict parents” . Amy Chua, who is the most famous tiger mother in the world, was strictly criticized after publishing her book and an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. It is a controversial topic with no precise answer. “Chinese” style of parenting is contrasted with the “Western” one and both of them have their advantages and disadvantages. It ought to be clarified why I have put the terms “Chinese” and “Western” in brackets. The reason is that it is a generalization, which even Amy Chua admits to use in her memoir . Not all Chinese parents are strict and achievement-oriented as well as not all Western parents are liberal. For example, Chua mentions an American whose father was definitely the type of Chinese mother. Moreover, in accordance with the articles I have read, tiger parenting is no longer so popular in China nowadays. Instead, more and more Chinese are copying Western parenting style. I will go further into this topic later in my essay. In my writing I will use Amy Chua as an example of the tiger mother. She described in detail how had she been raising her two daughters and, most importantly, why had she been bringing up them in such a way. Some of the rules which she imposed on her daughters seem to be ridiculous (e.g. they were not allowed to attend a sleepover, watch television, play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities). Sophia and Louisa (“the tiger cubs” as they call themselves)

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