One More Chinese Mother Post

...Then back to Korea. 


Here are two Chinese (-American) daughters' responses to Amy Chua's thoughts on Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior:


Julianne Hing in the Atlantic 


My mom would hand us math workbooks to occupy us during car rides the way other parents hand their kids Pop Tarts or carrot sticks. She, like Chua, packed our violins in the trunk of the minivan so we could practice even while we were on vacation and forbade sleepovers and weeknight television well into my high school years. I struggled mightily with math and science and my mother would wake me up at 6 am on weekends so we could go over math drills together for hours. Letting me fail was not an option to her, though I occasionally wished she would have. Thanks to her, I didn't. 


And  Amy Wang in the Oregonian

I feel for Chua's two girls, as I chafed under some of the same prohibitions growing up. Do Chua's daughters feel totally unable to talk to her about personal stuff, like classmates' crushes on them? Do they feel completely left out of the social loop? Do their friends -- if they have any -- openly pity them? Underneath their smiles, are they gritting their teeth and counting the days until they can leave home? Are they going to go wild when they're finally on their own and end up as heavy drinkers or worse? Do they ever contemplate running away or committing suicide? I know far too many Asian Americans who can answer yes to most, if not all, of the above questions.