Reading Reflection #9
Melody Ly
Section A01
May 24, 2015
As a kid, I always expected my mom to be like Amy Chua. There were actually times when I felt I was missing out on my childhood because my mom was more relaxed and understanding when it came to academics and extracurriculars. I think the Chinese mother Chua described embodies the stereotypical Tiger Mom like mother figure Jessica Huang from “Fresh Off The Boat.” They force you to study and practice for hours at a time, because they believe you could reach your greatest potentials with a little extra work. In retrospect, I suppose I did not feel my mom was supportive because she did not encourage me to learn how to play the violin or to ace all of my spelling quizzes. It seems strange now that I would have rather had my mom represent my culture’s model parenting because we are trying to break such boundaries today. However as a child, I simply knew my mom was more unorthodox in her parenting style compared to those of my peer’s parents. If you follow the TV series, Jessica later loosens up as she and her family begins to incorporate the Western culture in their traditional Chinese household.
Asian children of the 1980s and 1990s were familiar with parenting like Chua’s but today’s parents seem to be more like Western parents Chua described. Could this be a result of Asians weaving in the American culture as the age of immigrants shifts towards second, third, and fourth generation populations?
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