Imagine having a mother who, from as far back as you can remember, drilled you towards perfection. Every waking hour, she’s there – an overbearing, unrelenting, unforgiving presence, constantly pushing you towards academic success. No room for friends, no room for fun, only room to improve. As horrible as this may sound, the truth is that it’s horribly familiar.
Meet Amy Chua, a self-proclaimed ‘Tiger Mum’. Chua has provoked controversy over the past year after publishing a book explaining and discussing the gruelling parenting methods she has adopted in order to push her children to the limit. Much of the Western media was in uproar over Chua’s apparently unloving and vindictive approach to parenting. But Chua’s attitudes are not as foreign as we like to think.
Amy Chua: Pushing for perfection – just like us.
Imagine yourself several years from now. It’s likely you’ve got some rather ambitious career plans. Given the increasing levels of competition in the job market, this means you’re going to have to work hard. Very hard. You’ll spend extra time in the office to impress the boss. You’ll spend less time socialising with friends. You may even delay marriage and children – all in your attempt to ascend the slippery steps of the job ladder.
Chua’s values – ambition, hard work, and sacrifice – are those which many of us must take on board when we enter the job market. At present, the British population is working record-breaking amounts of overtime. Given the current economic climate this can partly be explained by fears of redundancy, but it is also telling of an emerging culture in which a higher number of educated individuals are willing to compete for their chance at a career.
Whether this shared attitude is something to be celebrated or shunned is another debate entirely. What is significant however is that Chua’s mindset is not as “foreign” as we may think. If you don’t approve of Chua’s parenting methods, you may want to ask yourself whether you might be in conflict with your own five year plan.
Don't think I'd ever have time for my kids… too busy with U21's training.
YOU MUST HAVE NOTHING ELSE BETTER TO DO, YOU ARE A PAIN IN THE BACKSIDE! IT IS NOW QUITE BORING WHO GIVES A 'F' ABOUT U21'S
TPJ is clearly not one person, but a big, shit bandwagon.
This is not good enough, Winston, TRY HARDER NEXT TIME OK?
I am dissapoint.
Winston's Dad is English.
I think this article is a Great Leap Forward in chino-tab relations
Sino-tab* relations
except that you used an example of a voluntarily-undertaken self-planned goal of an adult to explain away a cultural phenomenon of parenting…
this does not make sense
unnecessarily-hyphenated words
Well done, but I think that's pretty obvious anyway. Winston isn't making direct comparisons, he's highlighting similarities. What's interesting about this article is that it provides an original, relevant and thought-provoking perspective on a rather tired debate.
Hi winston.
Hi
"Imagine having a mother who, from as far back as you can remember, drilled you…." MAYBE if she was a milf
Why you not doctor yet?
Will you be my Tiger Dad?
that mum would get it
all over me
Thought it was 'You in the Tiger Mum'. So disappointing.
The central point of this article is flawed. There is a fundamental difference between making a decision about how you want to prioritise the things in your own life (e.g. "I'll work really hard for three years at university so that I come out with a good degree") and making the same decision for other people (e.g. "My friend's been going out an awful lot lately and I think it's hurting his grades. I'll be sure to hide his driver's licence so he can't do anything but stay in."). While the former is obviously completely acceptable, it's very rarely acceptable to make decisions about other people's lives for them.
I agree with "asian"; the central point of this article is flawed. There is a fundamental difference between making a decision about how you want to prioritise the things in your own life (e.g. "I'll work really hard for three years at university so that I come out with a good degree") and making the same decision for other people (e.g. "My friend's been going out an awful lot lately and I think it's hurting his grades. I'll be sure to hide his driver's licence so he can't do anything but stay in."). While the former is obviously completely acceptable, it's very rarely acceptable to make decisions about other people's lives for them.
Page 18 – TCS
http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/download/TCS_Volume12_Le…
thanks for this, Abi See.
It's nice to put it where someone might see though, right?
Remember that 10 O'Clock Live-thing that was going to make Channel 4's axing of The Daily Show all better? Articles like this always take me right back to it. It's like you set out your stall but then it's time for the commercial break and it all ends rather clunkingly abruptly, before you've landed a decent blow. Setting aside the uncomfortable ethnocentricism that is central to the disapproval of this (or any other) parenting style, how can you compare choices that a rational adult makes for themSELF and choices made for a dependent minor?
I know. He should have stuck to the reading list.
Winston, I love you but this is bollocks. File next to "increased fees are only £1 a day for 40 years!" and "2iis don't matter".
And when I say file, I mean put in the bin.
This is poor. Next time make a point. Get better