Irish Setter Dad

Weekly Standard ^ | 04/08/2011 | PJ O'Rourke

[OldDeckHand]

Whose children will succeed in life, Amy Chua’s or mine?

What’s all this bother about Chinese Tiger Moms? Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, has America’s female parents in a swivet. You’d have to take Sarah Palin to a NOW convention to see so many ladies mad at a fellow woman. Practically a third of the Atlantic’s April issue is taken up with Caitlin Flanagan and Sandra Tsing Loh giving Amy Chua the dickens in terms strong enough for Hillary Clinton’s private thoughts on Monica Lewinsky. My wife put it more succinctly: “This person is factory farming her kids.”

I gather Ms. Chua is a total bitch with her children, making them finish homework before it’s assigned, practice violin and piano 25 hours a day, maintain a grade point average higher than Obama budget numbers, and forbidding them from doing anything they might enjoy, such as exhale.

But being a male parent with a typical dad-like involvement in my children’s lives​—​I know all of their names​—​I thought Battle Hymn was great. That is, I thought it made me look great. Not that I read the dreadful book, but I did buy each of my children a copy and inscribed it, “So you think you’ve got it bad?” What with three editions lying around because my kids would rather fool with the Wii than read, I admit I gave in to the temptation to skim.

Here are some of the things that “unlike your typical Western overscheduling soccer mom, the Chinese mother believes.” (By the way, Amy Chua isn’t Chinese. Her parents are Filipinos of Chinese extraction and she was born in the United States and grew up in Indiana.)

[OldDeckHand]

Oh, PJ O'Rourke kills me.

[skr]

But being a male parent with a typical dad-like involvement in my children’s lives​—​I know all of their names​...

LOL!

[mewykwistmas]

Hahahahahahaha, screw that Chinese b*tch! Her daughters will probably become strippers just to get back at b*tchmommy

[I still care]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[pandoraou812]

Children deserve to have childhoods. I think too much pressure is put on them at too young ages to be whatever mommy or daddy want. I am not saying let them run wild but every minute doesn't have to be accounted for either. I saw this lady on TV & thought as soon as the girls can escape or have the guts to say no to her she will be in for a rude awakening. Maybe I am wrong as she is from another culture but I wouldn't want to be her child.

[cavador]

It’s not only in the U.S.,but here in Australia the chinese parents treat their children exactly the way this asian in this book does with her offspring.As a result our high schools are churning out asians with a higher than average curriculm score when they reach year 12.And just the last few years there seem to be more and more graduating each year.Pretty soon they will outnumber westerners.

[RhoTheta]

I love his wife’s assessment: “This person is factory farming her kids.”

[Tax-chick]

You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be feeling better about yourself as a parent after that.

Me and P.J., we are so on the same page. Anoreth got a tattoo using the design of one of his book covers.

[norge]

Great piece.

But nothing about Irish Setters, dagnabbit.