Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Why Chinese mothers are superior

How to raise a child is a big taboo in the west. You don’t comment on how other people raise their children. Many parents only want the best for their children and only want them to be happy. They don’t want to be the strict but the supportive parents. This is the scenario in the Western world. In China or in Chinese families the setting is very different. The article Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior by Amy Chua explains how raising a child is done in Chinese manners. The intention of the article is to enlighten the Chinese parenting to the Western people and to convince the reader that it is superior to the Western parenting.

The intention is made clear already in the being when. Amy Chua talks about how her daughters had a strict upbringing. Chinese mothers raise their children to win and to aim for the moon. But where the Western adage says “aim for the moon and even if you miss you’ll land among the stars”, the Chinese mothers will say you can’t miss. You have to hit the moon. Amy Chua uses different rhetorical devices to make her intention clear and to make the reader listen. Among others she uses hidden humour and self-irony. This strengthens her credibility because she shows that a Chinese can be fun even though they practice such a strict way of parenting. Amy Chua knows the stereotype of a Chinese and she uses the Western readers’ prejudices about the Chinese to create the self-irony. It is seen from the very beginning in the first sentence of the body text: “A lot of people wonder how Chinese parent raise such stereotypically successful kids” (l. 4). Amy Chua uses this bizarre phrase “stereotypically successful” about the Chinese children, to let the reader know, that she is well aware, the Chinese parenting does not create unique individuals but stereotypical children. At the same time, she says that the standard Chinese child is successful. She continues: “They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies[…]” (l. 5). The use of the word “produce” strengthens her above-mentioned self-irony, because it leads the thoughts to the industry of China and creates a small equal sign between Chinese industry and the Chinese parenting. To complete the reader’s funny feeling of China being a nation systematically producing successful copies using well-organised methods, she makes a list of bullet points in the article.

This humorous and self-ironic way of talking about the parenting during the introduction catches the reader’s attention, and it makes the possible consequences clear to the reader. The consequences such as the Chinese not being a unique individual but instead a stereotypical copy.

Afterwards she uses logos to reach her intention to convince the Western reader, that the Chinese parenting is superior to the Western. She mentions a study showing that 70% of the Westerners think that “parents needs to foster the idea that learning is fun” while that for the Chinese mothers was roughly 0%. Without calling in question Amy Chua talks about this as a bad thing for the Westerners and she continues: “Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be “the best” students” (l. 38-39). This follow up line talks to the readers feelings and creates an image of parents really believing in their children’s future and possibilities. It also makes it clear to reader that every child really can succeed if they do their best, and if their parents do their best as well. This form is used by Amy Chua later on again: “If a Chinese child gets a B – which would never happen – there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and work through them with their child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A” (l. 89-93). First Amy Chua creates a scene where the mother is, through Western eyes, unhealthy demanding of her child and afterwards an explanation that shows that these requirements might not be as unfair. She only does it, because she believes in her child and that is a very important thing in the Western way of thinking parenting. Amy Chua gives an example of how the Chinese parents do not steer clear of the conflict with their child, if they know it creates a long-term benefit: “The fact is that Chinese parents can do things that would seem unimaginable – even legally actionable – to Westerners. Chinese mothers can say to their daughters, “Hey fatty – lose some weight.” By contrast, Western parents have to tiptoe around the issue, talking in terms of “health” and never ever mentioning the f-word, and their kids still end up in therapy for eating disorders and negative self-image” (l. 65-69). This shows how the Chinese mind-set can save the children by being particularly harsh to them, while the Western model can be nice on short-terms but have no effect on the long term.