Why Chinese Mothers are Superior

Teaching kids, I saw the whole spectrum of mothers.  The worst was Jack's aunt.  Jack was a lovely, fairly bright boy who enjoyed class... unless his aunt accompanied him (parents were allowed to obseve class).  Then he would be too afraid to even listen; if I asked him a question he wouldn't even know what I'd said.  He'd blow things he knew by heart.  Then his aunt would light into him at breaktime.  

Bad-tempered crazy bitchis like like are the second worst parents.

The worst are the ones who never establish or commit to boundaries, resulting in a psychotic little emperor who believes he can always get his way so long as me makes a big enough scene.  Those kids have no future- they'll never learn any respect for others, or ability to do something inconvenient in order to achieve a longer term goal.

I'll never beat my kids, and I don't believe in corporal punishment or eomtional beatings, but given an unskilled parent I'd prefer they err in the side of discipline.

Of course there's no point in arguing extremes.  Do you want a sociopath with a sense of entitlement, or a robot who never learns to form an independent thought?

Her book finally made the rounds on NPR (http://www.npr.org/2011/01/11/132833376/tiger-mothers-raising-children-the-chinese-way) I especially like their explanation of her parenting description:

Chua's voice is that of a jovial, erudite serial killer — think Hannibal Lecter — who's explaining how he's going to fillet his next victim, as though it's the most self-evidently normal behavior.

Here's an interesting review of the actual book also shedding some light on the original article:

http://shanghaiscrap.com/?p=6247

From the book:

"She’s just like me, I thought, compulsively cruel. “You are a terrible daughter,” I said aloud.

“I know – I’m not what you want – I’m not Chinese! I don’t want to be Chinese. Why can’t you get that through your head? I hate the violin! I HATE my life! I HATE you, and I HATE this family! I’m going to take this glass and smash it!”

“Do it,” I dared.

Lulu grabbed a glass from the table and threw it on the ground. Water and shards went flying, and some guests gasped. I felt all eyes on us, a gross spectacle.

I’d made a career out of spurning the kind of Western parents who can’t control their kids. Now I had the most disrespectful, rude, violent, out-of-control kid of all.

Lulu  was trembling with rage, and there were tears in her eyes. “I’ll smash more if you don’t leave me alone,” she cried.

I got up and ran. I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where I was going, a crazy forty-six-year-old woman spriting in sandals and crying. I ran past Lenin’s mausoleum and past some guards with guns who I thought might shoot me.

Then I stopped. I had come to the end of Red Square. There was nowhere to go."

It's amazing how many parents are afraid of "losing control" of their kids. Why can't they just treat them as they are -PEOPLE! it's ridiculous. I just can't tell me how many parents I have dealt with over the years, who erred in EITHER direction- the too strict" I'll give you what for if you don't pull up your socks and get better grades" kind and then the "I just don't know what to do with him" over-lax American- style hippy parents who let their kids do everything. It seems to me that communication is the key. I have two kids now 21 and 24 and they know that I am their mother, not their best friend, but they aren't scared of me.We discuss everything under the sun, they are polite, respectful ,but most of all they are independent, love to read, learn and enjoy life. I like to think that we have a good relationship, and it is mainly because I didn't expect TV to raise them. I was with them when they did homewor, to help,not to do it for them..
sorry but I think parenting IS a big deal.

But does anyone think the article was satire/dark humor?

Yeah, I think she intends it as tongue-in-cheek. I am a fan of Amy Chua, having benefited from her earlier two books. Entirely different, those two books affected my view of the world. I have not yet read the parenting book.

The article wasn't satire but it was written in a provocative way.  It doesn't remotely resemble real Chinese mothers' attitudes or behaviour, but it refers to their desires for bettering their kids, and their discipline.  It might well be an accurate description of American Chinese mothers' attitudes, but I've never met an American Chinese mother, so I don't know.
My taitai thought it was all rather silly.