i'm currently reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother for my mom's group book club. I've never participated in a book club cuz I'm a slow reader, and these days it can take months for me to finish a book. but when my mom's group leader suggested this for our first book, i was interested.
i'm only about 1/3 of the way thru it, after one day of reading (it's a quick read), and there are so many things i can already relate to. my mom was nowhere near a "tiger mom" but there were aspects of my upbringing that are similar. like the importance of academics. i remember a specific time i brought home an A-minus on a test and my mom asked me why there was a minus sign after my A, sounding very disappointed in me. i was crushed. it definitely made me want to work harder and not get an A-minus anymore. i don't know what it is about the asian parent, but they do instill that bit of fear, of not wanting to disappoint them. my mom, like many other so called tiger moms, is quick to criticize me, and from the outside, it may seem cruel and unnecessary, but i know this is just her way of trying to motivate me. for years i had to listen to her criticize my weight, saying things like "only skinny girls look pretty in nice clothes." and questioning if i should eat so much. it's a miracle i didn't ever develop any eating disorders. but really, it did give me a sort of negative image of myself thru a short period of my life, but in other ways, it just made me more aware of my body. i've always struggled a bit with my weight, never really being big or overweight, but i always wanted to be supermodel thin and worked at it thru proper diet and exercise. the one part i really don't identify with, and that's the music part. i chose to play the piano when i was 5, my parents never pushed it. they did encourage me to practice everyday, but only for 30 minutes. i was really good at sight reading music, so i only had to practice a piece a couple times to get it. by the time i stopped lessons when i was 13, i wasn't even practicing anymore, just for the 30 minutes before my lesson, and i remember doing the theory worksheets in the car on the way to my lesson! i felt bad for wasting my parent's money on lessons that i didn't really care about anymore so i told them i wanted to quit. my dad wasn't thrilled, cuz he actually thought i could go to julliard (haha), but it didn't work out that way, and my parents were okay with it. this is VERY not tiger mother like.
and even after just reading 1/3 of the book, i totally relate to so much of the book, especially how amy chua feels about this legacy we're trying to uphold, that our ancestors had worked so hard to establish. i'm looking forward to finishing this book, and curious to see how the others react to it (i'm the only asian in the group). i'll keep you posted. ;)
i'm only about 1/3 of the way thru it, after one day of reading (it's a quick read), and there are so many things i can already relate to. my mom was nowhere near a "tiger mom" but there were aspects of my upbringing that are similar. like the importance of academics. i remember a specific time i brought home an A-minus on a test and my mom asked me why there was a minus sign after my A, sounding very disappointed in me. i was crushed. it definitely made me want to work harder and not get an A-minus anymore. i don't know what it is about the asian parent, but they do instill that bit of fear, of not wanting to disappoint them. my mom, like many other so called tiger moms, is quick to criticize me, and from the outside, it may seem cruel and unnecessary, but i know this is just her way of trying to motivate me. for years i had to listen to her criticize my weight, saying things like "only skinny girls look pretty in nice clothes." and questioning if i should eat so much. it's a miracle i didn't ever develop any eating disorders. but really, it did give me a sort of negative image of myself thru a short period of my life, but in other ways, it just made me more aware of my body. i've always struggled a bit with my weight, never really being big or overweight, but i always wanted to be supermodel thin and worked at it thru proper diet and exercise. the one part i really don't identify with, and that's the music part. i chose to play the piano when i was 5, my parents never pushed it. they did encourage me to practice everyday, but only for 30 minutes. i was really good at sight reading music, so i only had to practice a piece a couple times to get it. by the time i stopped lessons when i was 13, i wasn't even practicing anymore, just for the 30 minutes before my lesson, and i remember doing the theory worksheets in the car on the way to my lesson! i felt bad for wasting my parent's money on lessons that i didn't really care about anymore so i told them i wanted to quit. my dad wasn't thrilled, cuz he actually thought i could go to julliard (haha), but it didn't work out that way, and my parents were okay with it. this is VERY not tiger mother like.
and even after just reading 1/3 of the book, i totally relate to so much of the book, especially how amy chua feels about this legacy we're trying to uphold, that our ancestors had worked so hard to establish. i'm looking forward to finishing this book, and curious to see how the others react to it (i'm the only asian in the group). i'll keep you posted. ;)
posted by joyce at
9:19 PM
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