Analyse af Amy Chuas 'Why Chinese Mothers are Superior'

How do you successfully raise a child, when there is no complete set of rules nor an instruction manual? There are as many different ways of parenting, as there are very strong opinions on parenting. However, there is one thing every parent can agree on: Their way of raising their child is the right way of raising a child. Amy Chua, the sender of the article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” (2011), is no excuse.

In the article, Amy Chua compares the Chinese and Western methods of child raising. She argues that harsh Chinese parenting leads to successful children who are prepared for the future. The Western parents, however, she is critical of. Parenting in the West is according to her lacking love and care.

Amy Chua lives in the United States but is of Chinese heritage. The non-western culture is especially reflected in Chua’s child raising as she uses the Chinese method when raising her two daughters Sophia and Louisa. She is in the belief that harsh parenting is successful parenting, that pushing, punishing, and shaming leads to successful children: “Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence. Once a child starts to excel at something (…) he or she gets praise, admiration, and satisfaction. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more” (p. 3) Numerous hours of though work is required when trying to excel at something, yet the extreme physical and mental exhaustion has its advantages. The child will of course master a new skill, but the feeling of satisfaction that follows will also make the working process more likeable and the child more workable. The outcome of the Chinese child raising method is therefore children mastering many different skills which can be useful in future life. In addition, the method has another benefit for the future of the child: “The Chinese parent believes that their child will be strong enough to take the shaming and to improve from it” (p. 4) The shaming will make the child reflect on its mistakes and hereby wish to improve. Thus, the child will become determined and when it has improved also confident. Both qualities that will be helpful in the outer world and in the future. Overall, the children raised by the Chinese method will therefore, according to Chua, be equipped with good qualities and skills which can help them success in life.