Essay on "Chinese Parenting Amy Chua's Model"

Essay 4 pages (1495 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Chinese Parenting

Amy Chua's Model of Parenting

In an article published by the World Street Journal "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, ignited a firestorm over the web because of the provocative title of her article and the arguments she made in it (Chua, 2011a). The article is actually an excerpt from a memoir she recently published, and "the splashy headline," as Chua pointed out in a follow-up response to readers' comments, was not of her choosing but a coinage of the Journal editors (obviously, to generate controversy and viewership to the page; not with no avail since the page has generated almost 8,000 comments thus far, the largest in the history of the Journal). It is also interesting to note that to a poll conducted by the Journal, asking the readers to choose between "Permissive Western Parenting" and "Demanding Eastern Parenting," 13,207 (37.7%) chose the former and 21,821 (62.3%) chose the latter (Chua, 2011b). So, despite the negative response the article generated, there seems to be a large pool of readers who at least partially agree with her.

Chua's main argument is that, unlike Western parents, Chinese parents are demanding, strict, and controlling of their children but also more dedicated to their children's success, and that at the very end these efforts really pay off. The differences in parenting are so different, she says, that "when Western parents think they are being strict, they usually don't come close to being Chinese mothers" (Chua, 2011a). To make her case, Chua uses argumentative and rhetorical appeals to the readers, resorting to hyperbole and balance, using colloquial language, and being politically incorrect as well as brutally honest about her views. Some of her arguments are convincing, while others suffer from logical inconsistencies or fail to see a broader picture. The article has a merit, forcing, I think, both Western and Chinese parents to re-evaluate their parenting methods and see what is right or wrong, best or worst.

Chua says she is using the term "Chinese mother" loosely, which may reflect the motherhood practices of Korean, Indian, Jamaican, Irish, Ghanian, Pakistani, and Indian mothers as well. If so, why not talk about the "Asian mother"? And why "mother"? Are not Asian, or more specifically Chinese, fathers not as strict and demanding? In fact, telling her story, Chua recalls a story of her childhood when she spoke rudely to her mother and then was scolded by her father (her father called her "garbage," which somehow encouraged Chua to use the term against one of her own daughters). Although Chua appeals to readers' logic by saying that she uses the term "Chinese mother" loosely, there is a logical inconsistency in her elaboration. Chua, however, uses the rhetorical appeal of logos properly when she cites several studies, differentiating between Western and Chinese parenting models. But even here, Chua is selective, conveniently ignoring other studies showing that many Chinese and Chinese-American parents are in favor of using mixed parenting methods, incorporating both traditional Chinese and Western methods (Dejesus, 2011; Wu, E., and Hertberg-Davis, H, 2009). Also, Chua is making somewhat arrogant, trying to decide what "Chinese" means. When she says "I know some mothers of Chinese heritage, almost always born in the West, who are not Chinese mothers," she probably is not aware of the fact that she is insulting quite a bit of Chinese-American mothers who are proud of their Chinese heritage.

In fact, it is in appealing to the logic of pathos where Chua's arguments are the weakest. Otherwise, she is much better when she appeals to the logic of ethos and pathos. She has an excellent grammar and vocabulary skills, she uses an appropriate language in addressing her readers (who are more likely to be Americans since it is published in American English and on the pages of Wall Street Journal), she is fair-minded, and she expresses a fair amount of respect for diverging opinions, especially in the follow-up response. For example, in elaborating the main differences between Western and Chinese parenting methods, Chua explains why the Chinese method seems to be loathsome to many Western parents. She demonstrates an understanding of Western parents' concerns, but then moves on to explain why she thinks the Chinese method is effective and worth considering.

But Chua is best in appealing to the rhetoric of pathos. It is clear that she is skillfully exploiting the popular perception in America that the United States is in… READ MORE

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