Elsharkawy 1
Nadeen Elsharkawy
Professor Mary Cummins
English 1A; 1:10-2:00
11 March 2016
The Tiger Mother
In Vietnam, parents potty train their children with a whistles, and are able to have their
child potty trained by the time the baby is nine months (“10 Unique Parenting”). When raising
children, there tends to be many different styles of parenting, whether it be a strict parenting style
or a looser parenting style executed by parents. In Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,
the aspect of a tiger mother parenting style was compared to a more “western” parental style. The
way Chua raised her children was brought to the attention of the American people through an
excerpt on her book written in the Wall Street Journal, as a result sparking a debate on the best
parenting style one can use with their children. The tiger mother method created this heated
debate due to the strict methods Chua used, however it also outraged many. For example, in the
book Chua mentions how during many interviews, the interviewer was outraged with her threats
of burning her daughter’s stuffed animals (Chua, 233). However, what truly sparked the debate
was the excerpt from Wall Street Journal. Why is this debate important? Well it points out, and
analyzes the outcome of different parental styles that come from different backgrounds. Chua’s
book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother has created many responses to the matter of parenting,
one response was the essay written by Lori Gottlieb “Parents Should Allow Children to
Experience Unhappiness and Pain”, which was written for The Atlantic. Chua is a professor at
John M. Duff School of Law at Yale, Chua earned her bachelors and law degree at Harvard and
went on to practice law for four years before teaching (“About Amy Chua”). Gottlieb is a New
York Times bestselling writer and received her degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in
marriage from Pepperdine, and a degree from Yale in literature and culture. Additionally,
Gottlieb received a degree from Stanford in literature and culture as well (“Lori Gottlieb
Elsharkawy 2
Therapy”). While Amy Chua and Lori Gottlieb have a difference in beliefs in the best parenting
style in regards to helicopter parenting and a less controlling parenting style, one thing that
Gottlieb disagrees would be how Chua is actively helicopter parenting her daughters. In addition,
Gottlieb also disagrees with how Chua controls the activities that the children participate in, and
what they are not able to do. However, the common ground between the two would be that
parents are willing to sacrifice to see their children successful.
A main point of disagreement between Chua and Gottlieb would be the best method of
parenting be a strict “Chinese mother” or a more Western parenting style. In Chua’s opinion the
western parenting style is not nearly as or as strict or effective compared to a “Chinese mother”
parenting style, and prevents failure of any kind from the child (Chua, 4). On the other hand,
Gottlieb believes that failure is a key learning experience as a child grows (Gottlieb). Chua uses
