Instructor Shannon Takeuchi
Eng. 100
11 October 2014
“Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” Reading Response
Amy Chua is a mother of two children who describes herself as the “typical Chinese mother”. She begins her article by letting the audience know the rules of a typical Chinese mother. She says that her kids were never allowed to attend a sleepover, have a playdate, be in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, get any grade less than an A, not be the No. 1 student in their classes, and play any instrument besides piano or violin. She gives many examples throughout the article showing how different Chinese mothers treat their children compared to Western mothers. A main point that she makes is that Western mothers are too concerned with their child’s self esteem while Chinese mothers assume strength in their child. She gives the example of if her child were to come home with a B and the difference she would approach it rather than a Western mother. She said since a Westerner is concerned with their child’s self esteem, they will most likely sit them down and express disapproval while she would call her child “stupid” and even “worthless”. She justifies the way she parents by basically saying every child has potential to be the best, and it is the parents job to make sure they are the best.
I found this article very interesting. Growing up in Fullerton, as someone who is half Korean and half Caucasian, I have seen both sides of this